Order of Balance: Spartan of Zero
by Rogue 2k8
Summary: Behold! The first installation of the OOB and AOL fan series! Noble 6 is saved from his death on Reach by Halsey's backup plan, after the revelation of being a clone he returns to normal life, only to be sucked into a crazy world with magic, monsters, oh! And a crazy psychopathic brat who is now his "Master" as he is her familiar. His only hope of returning home, is to play along.
1. Spartans Never Die, they're just MIA

**BEHOLD! The first in the Alliance of Light and Order of Balance series! This is where it all began! That being said, this isn't exactly a mass cross-over due to the fact he's fresh out of the pods and no other factions have been met, might add a bit of Terran influence latter on though.**

**Noble6's armor config:**

**Helmet: Scout**

**Both shoulders: Recon**

**Chest: Tactical/Recon**

**Wrist: Tactical/Tacpad**

**Utility: Tactical/Trauma kit**

**Visor Color: Gold**

**Knee: FJ/Para**

**Primary Color: Steel**

**Secondary Color: Gold**

* * *

I stood there on the hill overlooking a vast graveyard of stripped down warships, the dog-tags of noble team in my right hand and my M392 DMR in my left, loaded with a full clip of 7.62 NATO... I chuckled. Its funny, that such a caliber was used for so long... out lived by ammunition... I though, it was ironic really.

I promptly slid down the hill and ran for a small destroyed outpost, the bodies of other Spartans littered around it. In the distance I heard the unmistakable sound of a Covenant Phantom... if this was Noble's last stand... then I was gonna make sure the Covie bastards remembered it!

*Fast-forward*

I cracked the neck of another Elite who thought he'd get the better of me... nope. Said Elite's grunt squad was sent into disarray at the loss of their leader, I quickly picked them off with My M6G Magnum before they could shake the fear out of them and regroup. I turned just in time to see a plasma mortar headed right at me, with no time to move I hit Armor-Lock and the round hit me but caused no damage save for a bit of friendly fire on their part. As soon as I came out of Armor-Lock a blast from a passing Banshee lowered my shields with a metallic clang and a burst of golden light. In a bit a rage I turned and fired at the banshee, a rookie mistake when I look back at it. As I was shooting the Banshee and Elite tackled me to the ground, I managed to get him off however, but his friends were right behind him, I threw a grenade and killed two of them. One of them elbowed me in the gut, a rather dirty move for an Elite, but I guess they were getting fed up with a lone Spartan III killing all their guys. He then head butted me and before I could react I felt the searing pain of being run through with an energy sword. At first it didn't hurt actually, then the intensity of the heat made it feel like the sword was cooking my insides. The Elite withdrew the sword, big mistake! I punched the Elite in the face and shot him with my Magnum and wounded another Elite but a big guy, a General, jumped on me and plunged another Energy Sword into me and the battle stopped... after that... I don't remember... I died I think.

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

The blackness... the eternal blackness... was this really what awaited in the afterlife? I wasn't the religious type or anything but I mean c'mon! Anything would be better then this! But in my mind I began to hear something, beeping... a pulse! What was really years, felt like seconds to me as I opened my eyes and started to gag. I was in a small glass prison filled with a watery substance, I couldn't breathe. I bashed the glass which shattered and let all the fluid out and I gasped for air... it was around now I also noticed I was naked... luckily I found a freshly folded white UNSC Naval officer's outfit on a table nearby, looked like I was expected... I hastily put the clothes on but didn't bother with the hat, personally I think it makes me look retarded. But I noticed a gleam from under the hat, I flicked the hat aside and found a Magnum... but not just any magnum! On the side were tally marks or kills I'd made, it was the same magnum I'd used on Reach. I took it and checked the ammo, a full clip, with one already in the chamber, giving me one extra bullet equaling 13 shots. I left the room I had been in and proceeded down a hall, the walls were all titanium and the lights on the ceiling glowed blue, it was like one of those crazy experiment labs you see on Sc-fi horror movies some times.

Eventually I came to an open room with a large hole in the center of it, I jumped the gap easily enough and entered the next room to meet someone I did not... ok... fuck it... I totally expected her of all people!

"Mom..."

The old woman was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room looking at me, there were two marine guards, one on each side.

"What happened?" I had already gotten over the initial shock of no longer being on Reach, but as to why I was still alive was the real question!

"Welcome back to the world of the living, S-362, or should I say Scorch. Halsey replied.

"Scorch?" I asked "Who?"

"You, you are no longer Lt. Alexander Chyton of Noble team, but rather Scorch-362, a clone."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" I held up my hands and pushed them forward every time I said _whoa_ "Your telling me, that I've been cloned, and the consciousness of my '_Original_' was transferred over into the body?"

"You learn quickly Noble 6"

"Well, is there a reason? I mean not that I don't think its awesome to still be alive! I can kick some more Covie ass!"

"That brings up another note, we are allied with the Covenant now..."

"WHAT!" I shouted almost chocking on my own saliva and dropping my magnum.

"Well, the Elites and some of the Grunts and Hunters anyways... the rest are open season."

"Mind explaining this to me, slowly?"

***Halsey explains the events of Halo:CE through Halo 3***

Damnit Chief... I'd known him personally actually! He was a good friend at times...

"Anyways we have no missions for you yet... why don't you take a while to get re-acquainted with Reach?"

"Yes ma'am thank you ma'am" and Halsey pointed to an elevator to my left which I took up to the armory room and recovered my equipment along with some new toys.

"Hey Scorch!" Said the Quartermaster "Just so you know, your suits gone under major upgrades!"

"What do you mean?" I asked curious to know if I had any new gadgets.

"Well, the shields recharge nearly three times as fast, some new toys have also been added" he said with a smile that meant only more weapons were involved "First off on your right arm there is a winch, you can use this to scale walls and for any, _Unconventional _methods of attack. On your left arm you got yer Tacpad which is linked to the Nanite-Transformer on your back" He tapped a small blue circle on the back of my armor.

When I asked what the transformer did he told me it worked like a special inventory, holding all the guns, food, equipment, tools and more, that I could ever need on a mission. He explained that it could even hold vehicle parts and I could build a vehicle from scratch if I had the parts. The Tacpad was also upgraded to allow the warping in of vehicles so long as some were on the Teleporters at UNSC command. Luckily for me, I was the only one with access to them at this time. I nodded and headed out, he also told me that I'd been supplied with an apartment not far from the base and gave me the location.

Once I'd gotten home I finally got to inspect myself... after the cloning process it seemed as though I was in the body of an 18 year old, not a bad age I guess, strong and fast, still not quite as strong as a mid twenty year old but this was an age I liked... despite the memories it brought.

Also as my mind was drifting away I found myself thinking rather perverse things... wait... perverse... after noticing a building pressure I sighed and chuckled and muttered "Welp, sex drive works properly now..." which I wasn't complaining about at all. But I figured it'd be best if I got some rest... as I entered my bedroom I heard a soft voice and I raised my eyebrow and shook it off as nothing, I was about to remove my helmet and armor but the voice got louder.

"Ok... I'm losing it..." but I clearly heard it.

"_My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"_

I knocked on the side of my helmet thinking it was some sort of bug or glitch with the suit's new OS. But I was proven false as a hole in space opened up, drawing me into it.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, no, no, no, no!" struggled against the inward force to no avail and was pulled in, hitting my head hard on the ground.

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

I was surrounded by dust and smoke but the filters in my helmet let me breath just fine, the impact had collapsed my shields but they quickly re-charged. As the smoke cleared I could begin to see the outlines of many smaller individuals... eventually I could make them out as weird harry potter rejects... all wearing black cloaks and white shirts, black skirts/pants and stockings... the works really. I could hear them speaking as some of them looked me over, it sounded like a dialect of French, of which, I'll admit I'm a bit rusty in... so I turned the translator in my helmet on.

"Its a golem of some sort!" Said one of the Potter kids.

"What is it!?" asked another

"You there!" said a smaller pink haired girl, as to who's hair color I wasn't surprised, hair color got really weird in 2500's so I shrugged it off. "Take your helmet off"

"Nah" I said to which she looked at me with anger and yelled

"Take it off!"

"I can't, if I do, I won't be able to understand you... ok... that's a lie, but my French is very rusty."

"French?"

"Your language sounds similar to another language I know to which I can relate some of your words, but not enough to properly form understandable sentences..." I checked my inventory on my Tacpad and found an earpiece which I retrieved.

"Fine... hold on..." I removed my helmet and put the ear piece in, after which everyone gasped. Was my hair bad? It was short and brown, the gel that was in the cloning vat I was in worked surprisingly well as a hair gel. Oh yeah it may have been my face, I have hazel eyes and a scar across my left eye from a close brush with an Energy Sword.

"Haha! Lousie the Zero has summoned a commoner." Said another pink haired girl with a substantially large bust.

"Shut up!" Yelled the one called Louise. "Mr. Colbert can I try again?"

"I'm afraid that's forbidden, you have summoned this man as a familiar and thus you must finish the contract."

"Oh c'mon!"

"Or you will be expelled."

Louise grumbled and then did something I did not except, she freakin' kissed me. I mean, she looked to be 15 or so, and I was being nice, with a chest that flat I would have said 12! Hence I was a tad disturbed and it took all my willpower to kept from shoving her away. Cuz as I overhear this was something that was required for her school, weird school if you need to kiss a stranger you just met.

It was then that I felt a burning pain on my hand, it was enough to make even a seasoned marine cry in pain, but I just winced and grabbed my hand. I removed my glove and saw a white glowing rune form on the back of my hand.

"What black magic is this!?" I exclaimed

"The contract is sealed, you will now address me as master! It's not every day a commoner gets to be honored with a privilege such as this!"

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

"You will wash these!"Lousie yelled at me and threw a bunch or feminine laundry at me.

My helmet was resting on one of the dressers at the time, I held up a pair or her petite pink panties with two fingers and an un-amused face.

"How about... no?" I said bluntly

"No!? You are my familiar and it's your job to obey your master!"

"What's your rank?" I asked

"Huh?"

"Your rank, it's your level of expertise and leadership, it's called Chain-of-Command"

"Ummm..."

"You're a civilian, which as far as I'm concerned, I out rank you."

"Out-rank me!? I'm a noble! You are a commoner, on top of that you are my familiar and I am your summoner, meaning I easily outrank you!"

I scoffed "Well, I'm not your errand boy! I'm a soldier! You want me to do manual labor that involves moving heavy objects, punching a few faces in or blowing something up then sure I can understand that! But doing, a 15 year old girl's tiny laundry is out of the question!"

Then to add insult to injury Lousie added "Or else no food for three days!"

I rolled my eyes and brought up the inventory list on my Tacpad and retrieved a _Vector _energy bar. "Ok sounds good." And I just stood there eating the bar. "Tell you what, maybe if you say please I'll bring it down to one of the maids."

Lousie started fuming "Or" I added "You can do it yourself." Aaaaand she caved.

"Fine, would you _please _bring my laundry down" she growled at me in her most hateful voice, I shrugged, close enough I guess... it was a start at least.

I headed down the tower with the basket of laundry and passed a blonde-haired prissy boy who was hitting on a brown haired girl.

"Hey you there!" said the boy

"Yeah?" I asked

"Aren't you Louise's familiar"

"You could say that" I replied "Who's askin'?"

"UH! How dare you speak to a noble in such a tone!"

"Yeeeeaaaaahhhh..." I said with drawn out sarcasm "I don't give a fuck"

"a seal?"

"No, a FUCK! It means... ugh... never mind, I have shit to do." And I kept walking out of the tower passing the tanned, pink haired girl with huge breasts who had laughed at Lousie. It was people like her whom I have problems with, people with no respect, that being said it was raised into question why was I helping this stuck up brat in the first place!

'Cheer up Six, think of this as your first assignment in a new world' I thought with my positive side of my brain, while the negative side retorted 'Yeah, washing laundry is a real epic mission, what next!? Will she want me to roll over and wag my tail!?' I sighed and kept going.

I had changed into my green UNSC sergeant armor and had the standard military cap on, with a holographic eye piece that marines often use as a HUD. It was recording everywhere I went and mapping down the area so I could navigate it better later. I also had my M6G magnum in a holster and an MA5B Assault rifle on my back. I doubted I would need them, but better safe then sorry. I had been wandering around for a while, totally lost even though I had a map, when...

*bump*

Some on backed into me and I dropped the basket spilling the clothing on the ground.

"Ah shit!" I cursed and looked up to see who bumped into me. It was a maid from the sterytypical look of her. She had black hair and brown eyes... and a rather large bust... why is it that almost all the chicks here have huge boobs except Lousie and that Blue haired girl I saw earlier? Just a question!

"S-sorry milord" said the maid as to which I was taken aback.

"Milord? No, I'm afraid your mistaken, I'm just a _commoner_ like you, I'm Lt. Alexander Chyton UNSC Spartan-362, callsign: Scorch"

"Huh?"

"Just call me Scorch or Alexander"

"Oh ok Mr. Alexander"

"And drop the mister part, there is no need for formalities." I said as I began to pick the laundry back up, the maid began to help me. "What about you?"

"Oh, the name is Siesta."

"Siesta? As in like, nap?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing..." we finished picking up the laundry "By the way I was looking for the laundry room or a place to do... _some laundry_" I said, forcing out that last part.

"Well then follow me" she said and we headed towards a small shack with a well next to it. I guess the tech of this world was rather rudimentary. She pulled a bucket up and got a washboard from the shack and started washing the clothing and whenever she finished one I'd take it and go to pin it up on the drying line. While we worked we talked about a few things.

"Your clothing isn't anything from around here is it Mr. Alexander?"

"Stop calling me mister, and no it's not... my home is... else where..." I looked at the sky and the two moons which were begning to rise. "Very far from here I am guessing... might not even be in this galaxy."

"Galaxy?"

"Well, yeah, where I come from is a plannet called Reach in the heart of UNSC space."

"Mind explaining that a bit more?"

"Sure, UNSC is the military force which protects earth and her colonies, Earth is the homeworld, Reach was the main military plannet for human forces. we grew quickly but we almost overgrew ourselves! There was an issurection a while back where rebles from the outer colonies fought against the UNSC, which is how the Spartans were created. We were created to quell the rebels."

"But you never got the chance?" she asked inquisitively, acknowledging the look on my face

"Your smart, that is right, instead the Covenant found us first..."

"Covenant?"

"A collection of fanatic religious alien races who said quote _"It is the will of the gods to cleanse the galaxy of the humans, and we, we are their weapon!" _and that is basicly how the Human-Covenant war started... and we began to lose instantly."

"What changed?"

"The Covenant glassed every human world they came across..." My voice started to crack "Billions upon billions perished..."

"What about you?" she asked nervously as she could hear my mood change.

"I never knew my family, most likely killed by the Covie bastards" I opened my Tacpad and brought up a picture of a glassed world I know all to well. "This was Harvest before glassing..." it was a blue world with beautiful oceans, forests and small cities.

"Its beautiful!" Siesta smiled, then looked at me and noticed my eratic breathing

"This is it... after glassing" it was the same world, all covered in a metallic, black, sharp, inhospitable stone, the land melted beyond repair.

"How..." she held a hand to her mouth "How could they do that?"

"Religion can make a person crazy they say, to die for what you believe in is one thing, but to obliterate an entire race for it? Well screw that! If that's they case then they are the ones who need killing! Hence you can see the cycle of religious war. But in hindsight I guess that similar to all war."

"Did ever win a battle?"

"Of course we did..." I tried to smile "But the costs were almost always high, and it usually didn't last long..."

"Was it worth it?"

I was silent for a while, I didn't mean to cry, but a single tear fell from my eye "I ask myself that all the time" and I noticed that Noble team's dog tags had appeared in my hand. I guess Halsey had left them in my inventory... good...

"I'll just be going now." Siesta said softly

"Thanks, I really needed to get that off my chest." I gathered up the laundry and folded them and put them in the basket. I headed back to Louise's room and put the basket on the floor, Louise was sitting expectantly on her bed and she sighed "What took you so long!?" she demanded.

"I was talking to someone." I gritted out

"Well you were supposed to go there and back! It's been hours!"

I clenched my fists "It was about my home, I needed someone to talk to, and let's face it, you're no good at listening."

"I don't care! Your my familiar and you have a duty to-" her sentence was cut off halfway as the barrel of my MA5B was shoved I her face, I had no intention of killing her, just to intimidate her into shutting the fuck up. It worked before...

"You. Have. No. Idea! What I've been through! I've killed thousands to protect my home, and I've killed hundreds for offending me, you'd be no different. It's one thing to order me around, I'm a soldier, I'm used to that, but to deny me the right! to vent myself about matters which you know nothing about! What will it matter if I take an extra hour to myself, you'll get your fucking shit done in the end! Now shut up and go to sleep, you brat!" Apparently my intimidation worked perfectly as Lousie just sank into her bed and about to cry. Honestly I didn't give a shit at the moment I was so pissed off. I saw the _bed _of straw and cloth on the ground next to Louise's, it wasn't by far a real _bed_ but on the other hand, I'd had worse... also I was too tired to complain. I changed into my MJOLNIR armor as the padding inside the suit actually was more comfortable then simply sleeping on the ground, also I could add a shader to my visor to keep light out.

I sat down on the _bed_ and drifted off...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxX**

**Louise's POV**

I tried to stay strong after the display of strength my familiar showed me but I simply couldn't, the power behind his commanding voice held that of experience and aggression. I guess in the end I just drifted off to sleep... not sure what to think about the situation.

Then the dream came...

I was in a classroom, or at least I assumed it was a class room... there were about 50 other students and a glowing pink lady at the front of the room. The lady was talking about tactics, military tactics... to a bunch of 8 year olds! My will was my own, but I couldn't speak, my actions were slowed, like an arm through water, my actions were fluid but delayed. The class was dismissed and I assumed the class was headed to a break, but I was proven wrong, we were taken to a course a small one yes but it was a set of handbars over hanging a stone pit, a fall would easily break a leg. Across the pit was a set of ropes on the ground and after that a long rope with a moving pulley on it. We were forced to run this course again, and again and again. Swinging across the bars, weaving in and out of the ropes, climbing ladders, going down ziplines and more! The instructor yelled at us signaling lunch. We all went into the dining hall, the food was... disgusting. It was all white mush and had no taste what so ever, as a noble I had no intention of eating this, but the course we had run had made me so hungry I didn't care.

The dream fast-forwarded and I felt older, maybe 16 or so. I could hear a loud voice above what sounded like rapid fast gunfire. It was strange gun fire however, it sounded like pops, pings and pews, like "pewpewpew". We were inside a metal box with a door on it, I felt a sudden lurch as the box made contact with something and the door opened.

"Let's go Spartans!" yelled the commander

My will was no longer my own, the body I was seeing all this through charged out the back of the box disregarding all the green and blue flashes of light wising by his or her head. I'm going to assume it is a he by the sounds I'm hearing.

I slammed into a rock pile and looked at my surroundings, it was me and a whole team of the ones they called "Spartans" and a bunch of other guys and girls who didn't look nearly as imposing as us.

We were making a charge at an enemy position who had taken a ridge in a tree line ahead of us, and we were forced to charge at them through an open, empty dirt field with little hiding places. Another Spartan slid next to me.

"Hey..." She said "Hey! Alex! Snap outta it!"

"Sorry" I said with a masculine voice.

"We've trained for this, why are you stopping?"

"Sorry Kat, just... thinking..."

"This is no time for thought this is time for action!"

"Right" I leaded over the rocks and started making for the trees. I could see other human soldiers doing the same, ahead of me there was a squad of three human soldiers shooting at the trees. I saw a huge orb of blue light slam into them. To my horror three of them had been vaporised, their skin melted off and left behind black charred bone, while one unlucky soldier had lived... his lower half charred to bone and screaming his head off crying for his mother. I was chilled by those cries from the doomed man but knew I couldn't stop, I saw another soldier to my left get shot in the head, bits of brain matter exiting from the bullet wound. Then I saw another blue orb headed my way! It hit near me and I was sure I would die, but no, a bright flash of light saved me and forced me on my back. I struggled to get back up, my ears ringing. There was a loud beeping in my ears and then a "weeeeer" sound as another golden light enveloped me, shielding me from harm once again. I kept going and finally made it to the bottom of the ridge. I looked back at the battlefield, which now looked more like a massacre. Bodies were strewn everywhere, the ground that was not blood soaked was charred to a black crisp and turned to glass from the impact of the balls of light. But still quite a few had made it to the ridge, the other Spartan, Kat, joined up with me and nodded at me, we then climbed over the ridge and entered the trees. I then saw who was shooting at us...

There were six of them... three of them had little dog like faces and weird orange and red canisters on their backs and wielded tiny horseshoes that fired green balls of light. Two of them were humanoid in appearance but had long beaklike mouths and feather Mohawks, they wielded the same weapons as the little doglike creatures but had round blue shields on their other arm. The last one was big and humanoid, it had four mandibles that acted at its mouth and wore a navy blue armor, wielding a larger horseshoe but this one was blue rather than green. They scattered and the little ones started shooting at us but we put them down quickly. The birdmen were more difficult to take down but with teamwork; one of us distracting them, opening up an area for another one of us to shoot, made is easier. The last one was a challenge, he threw Kat into a tree and stared at me, honestly I was scarred, I didn't know what to do so I began shooting him as he charged me. He slammed me down, knocking my helmet off and roared into my face, all four of his mandibles spread open spraying saliva onto my face. Then another force knocked the blue guy from me, it was green and fast. It slammed into the alien and punched its face in and slit its throat. The man looked at me, and helped me to my feet.

His voice was deep and baritone but he spoke with such confidence and control despite the carnage that was going on. "Come on S-3-6-2 the fight isn't over till its over!"

I retrived my helmet and looked at it for a bit, there was no mistaking the steel and golden pattern of color on it, or the thin golden visor over top a black mouth piece with a dual prong-like sun-visor over top the faceplate... this was the helmet of my familiar. Then my familiar spoke...

"Understood... Spartans! Fall in behind the Master Chief!"


	2. Guiche, Golems and Brutes

**Here I go with another chapter of this, today should be fairly entertaining... I have the Guiche fight planned and a cute scene with Siesta coming up. As well as the start of a few other things... involving the Covies... heheh... I'm so evil...**

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Louise's POV**

In my semi-conscious mind I felt the bed covers get torn off me and I muttered something really smart like "Hubahmmaaaawha?" I don't even know!

Then a strong and commanding voice spoke, but one free of the anger that had scolded me the night before. "You wanted me to wake you for classes right? So I'm waking you, its a simple enough task and I may as well since I'm right here."

"Uhhh? Oh right the commoner I summoned... " I muttered and sat up and stretched. Then a neatly folded shirt and skirt was thrown onto my lap.

"You wanted me to wash your clothing and I did, here."

"Where are my panties?" I asked

My familiar froze "Um... in the drawer I would assume."

"So?"

He sighed and retrieved them, I stood out of my bed and removed my nightgown.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"I'm changing so I can go to class."

"What right in front of me? You don't mind a guy watching this?" he exclaimed

"You're a boy?" I asked

My familiar rolled his eyes and I sensed incoming sarcasm "Nooooo, I'm a robot..."

"What's a robot?"

"Never mind..." and he averted his eyes while I put my panties on.

"Now then dress me..."

He turned back to me. "Dress. You?"

"Are you deaf, that is what I said!"

He face palmed "What are you lazy? Do you not know how to do it!? Its simple, just put one foot or arm in at a time, bam! Your dressed! See wasn't that simple!"

"Nobles never dress themselves! And you're my familiar! It's your job!"

"Yeah well screw this! PS: I have a name! Its Scorch! Or Alexander! Whichever you prefer!"

"Well then I guess you don't have to eat today." I scoffed.

Alexander just chuckled and replied "Ok, bye..." he left with another one of those strange chocolate bars in his hand. I just grumbled.

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Scorch's POV**

Ok... I swore I went in the OPPOSITE direction of Louise the Brat but somehow I wound up back in the mess hall... sitting on the floor... eating a loaf of stale bread... oh how the mighty have fallen...

Anyways after they all said some sort of prayer and started eating, I quickly ate the bread, the dug around in my inventory for a drink and found a can of Coke-a-cola... did I mention I love the Nanite-transformer? I popped it open which caught Louise's attention.

"What are you drinking?!" and pointed to the red can I was holding to my mouth. I swallowed the fizzy drink and replied

"Cola"

"Wh-what's cola?"

"A soft drink... its fizzy, sweet and in all honesty... reeeaaaally not something I should be drinking due to the health issues over use of it can bring up... but I'm not really in a good mood right now so I'm treating myself!"

I then pulled out another _Vector_ bar, seriously there was an endless supply of those things in here! I could live for months just off the amount of energy bars stored in here alone!

After Louise returned to her food having lost interest in my activities, I pulled out my combat knife from my sheath on my arm and began cleaning it with a cloth from my inventory. It hadn't been used yet but I didn't want it to get rusty.

After she was finished and we left the mess hall she spoke to me saying. "Normally the familiars wait outside to wait for their masters!"

"Oh reaaaaally!" I retorted "In any case I think that would have turned out much better than if I had come in with you!" standing right next to her I noticed just how much taller than her I was, at least a whole foot and a half.

That seemed to miff her a bit, but then I noticed a bunch of kids with their familiars all sitting at round white tables in the field next to the mess. "Hey what are they doing?"

"Oh that? All second year students have the day off to bond with their familiars."

Knowing how well we _bonded _so far... "I think maybe we should skip out on that..." I muttered.

"Oh really?" asked a semi-seductive voice and I turned around to find a giant red lizard staring at me.

"Holy crap! What the fuck is that!?" I exclaimed "I've seen some weird shit before but seriously this one takes the cake! If it's not magic, its magical creatures, if it's not then I don't even... you know I'll just stop ranting!"

"You know Lousie" Said the Red haired girl who was next to the lizard "I bet you just grabbed some peasant off the street nearby and pretended like he was your familiar!"

"That's not true! I made a real summon! It just happens that this guy showed up!"

I would also like to add, if I was a peasant, they where in Sam hell's name did I get all this armor and weaponry? I didn't say that... mind you I was sure as hell thinking it.

"Well, he's a perfect familiar for Louise the Zero..." and she walked away laughing while Lousie fumed.

"Wow... what a bitch..." I said

"At least we agree on something..." Louise muttered then her attitude changed and startled the hell out of me "NOW bring me some tea!"

I sighed and walked off as she sat down at one of the tables. I twirled my magnum as I was looking for wherever I'd get tea a floating eye ball moved in front of me. "Whoa!" I yelped which was unlike me and I may have accidentally fired off a shot from my magnum, thankfully no one had been hit... but it sure drew attention and everyone looked at me as I jumped back and bumped into someone... but they eventually just went back to whatever they were doing.

Turns out I had bumped into Siesta, the maid I had talked to last night, causing her to drop a piece of pie she was carrying. "Oh sorry Siesta..." I said and went to grab the pie she dropped, but she also did to and our hands met. And she blushed a bit. 'Wow...' I thought 'this is like one of those cheesy moments at the movie when the guy and girl both try to take the popcorn at the same time' though how I'd know that I had no clue... fact was, I'd never even been to a movie theater... but I sure as hell knew about them... kinda...

Anyways I put the pie back onto the tray she was carrying "Sorry about that again..."

"Hey, I remember you, Alexander right? The commoner who was summoned as a familiar by miss Valliere?"

"Yeah, that's nice to see someone with some degree of civility." The remark caused Siesta to gasp slightly.

"You think I'm more civil then the nobles here?"

"Hell yeah, the nobles are all stuck up, pompous and pampered, brats, bitches and bastards that can't see past their nose! You on the other hand actually listen, aren't demanding like some, and have a sense of humility. As in you know how to make someone feel equal..." I finished and noticed she was blushing "which reminds me, how the hell does this noble and commoner stuff work?"

"Well, those of us who can cast magic are nobles, while those of us who can't are just commoners..."

"ah, I see... then you are a commoner yes?"

"That is correct." She beamed "Just like you!"

Damn she's cute... and unlike a certain someone... actually likable Her personality and attitude is a great relief, especially after having to put up with brats for the past 36 hours!

I had my helmet off and under my arm when "Hey!" called a certain blone prissy-mc-guire.

"Are you going to bring me my cake?" The boy who I believe was known as Guiche said.

"Oh coming right up!" said Siesta

"Nah, leave it to me, I got this!"

"But... its my job to do it..."

"It'll be fine!" I smirked and took the cake, beginning to approach Guiche who was talking to some blonde chick with bows in her hair.

"You know, I spent the whole night conversing with Verdandi!"

"Oh really?" said the blond girl "All night? *sweats*"

"Oh yes, those eye, the sensual texture of his sweet scales!"

"Yeah, well, do me a favor and keep it buried when your with me ok?"

I reached the table and placed the cake, even though I swear it looked like a pie, on the table "There ya go" I said, which must have looked really weird having a nearly seven foot armor clad man giving a stuck up snob his _cake_.

"Good, now bring us more tea!"

As I walked away I heard some familiar lines coming from Guiche's mouth... no pun intended... I swore I'd heard him say similar things last night...

"I could never lie to those beautiful eyes, there is nothing hidden be-"

"Behind my feelings for you! Isn't that how is goes?" I finished for him and chuckled as I kept walking but then I remembered something. "Oh now I get it! The cloak color shows how many years the student has been here, he's in black meaning he's a second year... so last night's girl in brown must have been a first year!"

"Um, Guiche... what's he talking about?" the girl asked

"erm... hey you hurry up and get back to your job waiter!"

"What? You really think I'm a waiter? Heeeelllloooooo! I've got weapons galore on me here!"

"Wait your the commoner Louise the Zero summoned aren't you! You-"

"About last night? See ya!" I began to quickly walk away at the coming shit-storm began to brew... then I saw an opportunity to turn it into a shit hurricane...

I noticed the first year girl, Katie was looking for Guiche who was trying to leave already noticing the first year girl.

I walked up to the girl "Excuse me, but if your looking for that Guiche guy, I saw him over there with some blonde girl."

AAaaaaaand the shit-hurricane will now commence...

Both girls were yelling at him and eventually the loud slap of a girl slapping Guiche was heard drawing attention to him... and everyone seeing what was going on started laughing.

After being knocked on his ass by said girl, he stood back up and addressed me, "It seems you don't know how to pay the proper respect to nobility!"

"Oh, well, that's just not a big issue in my world bro..."

"Well then I challenge you to a duel for sullying my name and causing these two girls here to cry!"

"Me? Causing them to cry? You did that yourself bro! What with your two-timing stunts!"

"Meet me at the center square in ten minutes! There we shall settle this!"

"A duel?" I asked with mock fear and the expression he had on his face was that of confidence... time to shatter it... I let out my most evil sound laugh and got right in his face, shoving him to the ground.

"You really don't know who your dealing with huh?" This was the shit I was waiting for, this is what I had been created for. I put my helmet on "I've killed thousands of bastards three times your size, don't throw your life away... boy!" I cocked my MA5B with a satisfying *Chk-chk* sound of locking and loading that I so loved. "Challenge ac-fucking-cepted" I walked away hoping I had instilled enough fear to cause Guiche to back down.

Then Louise caught my arm and tried to, and might I add failed, to pull me in the direction of Guiche.

"what are you doing?" I asked

"If we have time you may be able to apologize to Guiche and have him call off the duel."

"Apologize? To him!? Hell no, I'm gonna teach Mr. Guiche-bag a lesson about humility!"

"No your not!"

"yeah I am!" and I headed off the main square, Assault rifle at the ready.

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxX**

I was in the center of a circle of students with Guiche at the far end, with a rose for a wand he slashed across the air and a single pedal fell, creating a weird green creature appear where it landed.

"I'm known as Guiche the Bronze, therefore, a bronze golem, a valkirye will be your opponent."

"Wow..." I commented "A noble having a servant fight his battles for him... BIG SHOCKER!" I yelled

"Guiche! Stop!" Yelled Lousie

"Why are you trying to stop this fight Louise! It's already begun! Wait don't tell me you are developing feelings for this, commoner?"

"W-what!? How dare you! He's my familiar so its my right to be worried!"

"Well there is no helping it! The fight has already begun!"

I noticed the Red head girl, the short blue haired girl and Siesta all watching as well.

The bronze man... woman? Charged at me with a lance in hand, and I did nothing to stop it... it plunged its lance into my chest causing everyone to yelp of scream. A few people had closed their eyes, including Siesta... but when they opened them I was still standing, the lance bent and blunted against my armor. I grabbed the lance and ripped it from the Bronze being and bent the lance I half and a few people shuttered and gasped. Guiche himself looked a bit worried now... as I struck the head clean off with the butt of my MA5B.

"That all ya got? C'mon! Even a Jackal has more punch then these!"

In desperation Guiche summoned up 10 more Valkirye... I knelt and Guiche must have thought I was surrendering... but no, I readied my Assault Rifle and aimed at the closest one.

"This is real firepower!" I called out "The MA5B Assault rifle! 7.62, magazine fed, 60 round clip, 900 rounds a minute, gas operated goodness..." and I fired burst by burst. The rifle roared in my hands as it barked hot lead at the statues... man, it felt good to feel this thing get warm in my hands again.

After I emptied my clip all the bronze statues fell over riddled with bullet holes, the barrel end of my gun smoking briefly.

I pushed the bolt forward and let the clip fall and I jammed another clip in and pulled the bolt back, *chk-chk* lock and load bitch!

"W-what!?" Yelped Guiche as I leapt forward knocking him down and planting a foot on his chest and aiming my rifle at his head.

"I yield! I yield!"

There was a loud gasp as everyone realized in shock that me, a _commoner_ had bested a noble...

"Ok... so what do I win?"

"What?"

"I won so now you need to do something for me!"

"Oh no..."

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

I stood behind Guiche, jamming my rifle into his backside. "well?"

"I would just like to say..." Guiche yelled "That I suck! I and I like ribbons in my hair... and I like to kiss all the boys..."

"HAHA!" I laughed "Best surrender of all time..."

Then Siesta ran up to me "Wow Alexander! That was amazing! I thought for sure he was going to kill you!"

"Pfft" I scoffed "It takes more then a few machinations to take me down... unless said machination has a huge fuel-rod cannon on their arm..."

"What do you mean by that?" Siesta asked

"Um no-" and as if on cue I noticed something out of the corner of my eye... my motion tracker was flashing yellow with all the students, but there it was, a single red dot... "Hold on" my tone changed, the students noticed it as well... I drew my magnum slowly and moved with killer intent towards the red dot... until I was right on top of it... a few students as well as Louise, Kirche and Siesta were following me...

The I saw it! A gleam, a shadow, a sparkle only made by one thing, Active-Camo. I shot the glimmer with my assault rifle and it flashed revealing a large ape like creature. It roared in protest to the damage I'd caused...

"FUCK! BRUTE!" I opened fire as the Chieftain charged me... what the hell was Covie doing here! I rolled to the side as a Grav. Hammer was slammed down where I had previously been... at this point I wasn't trying to show off... a brute chieftain was a challenge indeed.

"Well..." I tried to look on the bright side "At least you 'aint a Hunter!"

I shot two bursts at him removing his power armor. He swung at me again but I retrieved and energy Sword from my inventory and cuz his hammer apart. The Brute drew a Brute-shot and took a shot at me, hitting my feet sending me into a wall, and lowering my shields. Some students brave enough were still watching, the rest had fled once they learned this was for real...

The Brute reloaded and I switched to my DMR and tried to shoot for the head, but he knew my target and kept swerving side to side to avoid my shots. Another salvo from the Brute-shot and this time I felt some of the shrapnel pierce my armor and I caught some in the ribcage. The Brute came into melee me but I countered with a quick Armor-Lock which upon releasing pushed him back a bit then proceeded to shoulder bash him to the ground. The Brute rolled to his feet and fired his last salvo, the impact hit me but my shields took the brunt of the impact and I was knocked against a wall again... I was about to counter-act but I didn't have the time as the bayonet of the brute-shot ran me through. I swear the damned ape was laughing at me...

My vital signs were flashing red inside my helmet...

"Stupid Hooman" the brute laughed

I could see a few others standing there in shock and horror... the amount of blood was probably a prime factor... I swear Louise was crying.

"no..." I said gaining strength... I died once, I failed once... I wasn't going to again...

"I've failed before..." my voice getting louder... "I WILL NOT FAIL AGAIN!" I head butted the Brute who reeled backwards and with what force I could gather I dislodged to brute-shot from my body and brought the bayonet down on the brute's shoulder, severing it's spinal cord and it fell dead...

"Alex!" Louise ran up to me... and then reeled in horror at the amount of blood... I removed my helmet to look at her... coughing up a bit of blood in the process... then blacked out... last thing I remember was Louise screaming "Get a water mage! Get one quick!"

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Louise's POV**

I stayed up as long as I could... but eventually fatigue got the better of me... my familiar was resting on my bed, all his wounds were bandaged up and water mage's had stabilized his health.

As I drifted out of consciousness the dream started again...

This time I was on a strange world... but had no body... I saw a helmet on the ground, the one I recognized as my Familiar's helmet... it had a hole in it the size of a fist... the ground was burnt to a glass and everything smoked and smelt of death... the scene shifted.

I was on a strange type of transport as I put my helmet on, giant metal birds flew over head as the transport stopped I got out and walked towards a building with a few Spartans in front of it.

"Contact with visagrad relay was lost last week, we've had no contact since... I dispatched a group of troopers to deal with it but they have yet to check in." Said a voice from a magic box. "They are now considered MIA"

"And now you're sending us?" asked a Blue Spartan.

"ONI thinks the deployment of a Spartan team is a waste of assets, to which I disagree"

I was about to enter the building when the Spartan I recognized as Kat stopped me. "Commander!"

"So that's our new number six?" asked a giant man in orange armor with a huge box on his back.

"Kat?" asked a Spartan with a skull carved into his visor "you read his file?"

"only the parts which weren't covered with black ink."

"Any idea on who might be responsible sir?" asked the blue Spartan.

"ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection. Five months ago they pulled a similar job on Harmony they took out our eyes and ears then stole two freighters from dry dock. That cannot happen here! I want the relay back on line Noble one!"

"Sir, consider it done" said Noble one and turned around to face me. "Lieutenant!" he barked

It was my voice, yet I had no control over the words that came out. "Commander, sir!"

"I'm Carter, Noble one and Noble team's leader. That's Kat, Noble 2" he pointed to Kat, the teal girl Spartan "and Jorge and Emile, Noble 4 and 5." He pointed to the big man and the skull man.

"Your riding with me Noble 6" he said and led me outside. "Not gonna lie to you lieutenant, your stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled... me? Heh, I'm just glad to have Noble team back up to full strength."

I followed him onto one of the metal birds and sat down on one of the seats inside it.

"Oh by the way, I read your file, even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. I'm glad to have your skill set, but we're a team! That lone wolf shit, stays behind. We clear?"

"Got it... Sir..." I replied

"Welcome to Reach."

* * *

**So basically how the chapters are gonna go, is that we will mainly see the story from Scorch's eyes, and jump to Louise and others every now and then, Louise more then others. At the end of any non-conflicting chapters (One where I can legitimately put her to sleep) she's gonna have these dreams about Scorch's life as a Spartan, which will cover all the cut-scenes in Halo: Reach, she might even see glimpses of Halo CE to 3, as I had a very devious and deceptive way to allow Scorch to take part in Halo: CE to 3... he just doesn't know it yet :D**


	3. Recovery, Punishment and a Talking Sword

**I was thinking of bringing the UNSC here later, along with some Covies, I'm probably gonna do it but let me know what you guys think.**

'**this' is thinking**

"**This" is talking **

"**This is me totally forgetting to close off the speech or thought line.**

* * *

I awoke to the smell of food, fresh food... something I wasn't accustomed to in this world. My eyes flickered open and I coughed a few times. I sat up and rubbed my neck, it was extremely dry, my vision was still hazy from having just woken up.

"Your awake Mr. Alexander" Said cute voice I recognized. I glanced over.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Siesta... um... what are you doing here?"

"Ms. Valleire wanted me to bring you up some food, she's been so worried, she stayed up for nearly two days straight with no rest watching over you."

"Really?"

"She even got a special elixir to help with your wounds."

"Wow... that's... so unlike her..." I muttered

"Well, to be honest allot of us thought you weren't going to wake up..."

"Pfft, takes more than one Brute Chief to stop me..." I boasted, then my ego deflated as I admitted "I'm just a bit rusty that's all..."

"Well then, maybe you should practice?"

"That's a good idea actually..."

"But until you are in good health I suggest you get some more rest, but I'm sure Ms. Valleire will be glad to know you are alive."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

About a day later I was in a rather awkward position... back the old routine I guess...

"Hey Lousie?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard from Siesta that while I was injured you watched over me, so... for what it's worth, thanks."

"I believe there is a bit of a misunderstanding... as my familiar it's my job to take care of you, so by that logic you should always be thankful of me..."

"Wow..." I groaned

"Now then here, this is all the laundry that piled up while you were out."

I sighed "Well, I guess since you helped me, I won't shove a gun in your face for making me do this, consider it re-payment."

"Re-payment!" She exclaimed

"Yeah, Louise, I'm a soldier, not a slave or servant, but understand the virtues of gratitude, so for what it's worth, I figure I owe you... and if you make another snide comment about how a familiar should always owe his or her master and what not... I WILL burn these clothes."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"You stupid useless familiar!" Lousie yelled at me "once your done there meet me at my class!"

I sighed, was I ever gonna go home at this rate? I had already tried to contact UNSC command but to no avail, guess I was gonna just have to rough this one out... great!

Later at Louise's class I heard them talking about different types of magic and how the elements combined to form dot, line, triangle and square class mages... then the Red head, whom I later identified as Kirche spoke up.

"I know someone in this class who can't use a single element..." all eyes drifted to Louise... despite how much I really disliked her I felt obligated to stand up for her...

*bang*A bullet whipped right past Kirche's face, taking off a bit of her hair in the process... all eyes were on me and my smoking magnum which had just been fired. "You wanna say that again? See how accurate I really am?"

No replies from anyone "That's what I thought..."

*Later*

Once we had left the class I said something probably quite stupid... "Zero... ZERO! Hah! I get it now, zero as in cant cast anything and is a failure at everything!" I noticed Louise whistling like a kettle... and then once we got back to her room I totally murdered it... "And Zero... as in, zero chest... haha!"

"WHAT WAS THAT!" she got right in my face... or at least as much as she could despite the fact I towered over her.

"I went over bored didn't I?" I stated

"No food for two days! And no sleeping here tonight!"

I thought about shoving a gun in her face again, worked wonders last time, but I decided I'd just be making future fights worse... so I shrugged. "Whatever..." I started to leave "Oh by the way, don't open that dresser, I planted a grenade in there and if you open it then it will explode." I didn't but I needed the last laugh... especially with the look on her face being worth the lie.

I sat down outside the room and put my helmet on the ground next to me and tried to nod off with no success... I heard footsteps.

"Good evening Alex" Said Siesta the maid.

"Oh hi Siesta, what going on?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Oh, pissed off the master, got punished, you know... the usual..."

"I see..." and then my stomach growled. "Hey how about you come down to the kitchen with me?"

"Sure" I got to my feet and hit a button on my armor and it changed in a green light, similar to a recharging shield to my normal marine armor. "Anywhere is better than here!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Sorry they are only leftovers" Said the Head Chef Matreau. "But go ahead and eat as much as you want, oh sword of ours!"

I shoved a few pieces of soft bread into my mouth and swallowed "I'm a sword?"

"That's right kid, you're a commoner just like us, but you somehow won a duel against a snotty nobility boy! You're the pride of the peasants!"

"Well, to be fair, I do have years of training under the belt... the Brute I fought however was the real challenge" I sighed "Wasn't expecting one of those to be here!"

"Did you hear that? A true master never boasts of puts himself above the rest! And we expect nothing less!"

"We expect nothing less" chanted the rest of the kitchen staff.

"Damnit man, do these nobility douche-bags always eat stuff this good at every single meal!?" Then I felt a hand clap my back and Damnit! It was one strong hit as it knocked my face forward into a bowl of soup...

"When it comes to me, Marteau, I can make about anything taste absolutely exquisite, it's like magic you can eat!"

'So much for modesty and boasting' I thought 'but I guess he's got a right to.'

"Well thanks Marteau, but I'll head out now."

I stepped outside and it was dark out, I sighed and then heard Siesta behind me.

"You should come again sometime Alexander, everyone here is a fan of yours."

"Ehehehe..." *sweat* Thanks... and due to the events of tonight I have confidence that I can stay here... for a substantially longer time then I was before at least... but... when I got injured again... I really thought I was going to die... again..."

"Again?" Siesta asked in shock "What do you mean, again?"

"It's a long story... one maybe we will have time for later... but to sum it up, I died as a last stand protecting my home... then someone brought me back... It wasn't a pleasant experience, and I can't say I'd want to go through it again..."

"You know it wasn't until Ms. Valliere got a really expensive elixir that you began to come around."

"Yeah, well being a noble and all I bet she's got allot of money..."

"Hey, Alexander?"

"hmm?"

"I'd like to have a long talk with you sometime, if that's alright?"

I swear my face was as red as red plasma. (Brute-plasma rifle) "Um sure I've got no problem with that... but I think it's getting late and I should get some rest. G'night Siesta."

"Good night Mr. Alexander"

I walked back to the tower, thinking 'What a sweet girl, again, unlike a certain someone...' I entered the tower and made my way up, noticing a giant red lizard at the end of the hallway. 'Oh shit, that is Kirche's salamander right?' I was proven correct as it leapt on me and dragged me away. What did I do to deserve this? And how it was able to drag someone of my build was surprising.

It plopped me down in a dark room with candles lining the perimeter. "Huh? What's the meaning of this!?" I asked then noticed a silhouette, who upon stepping forward I realized was Kirche... and she was wearing rather skimpy lingerie... I gulped and stood up.

"Welcome Alex, or was it Scorch?"

"Um, either one works, but for the time being I'd prefer Alexander..." I said.

"Alright Alexander, welcome to my very private room... and, you know I'm doing something I shouldn't but you see my codename is fever, and I tend to burn up like a flaming torch..."

I sighed, this was just plain overkill... I didn't like women who when overboard with the drama... "Is that so?" I asked, clearly un-amused.

"You don't understand, I'm a woman in love and the one I love is you!"

It hit me like a cruiser and I shook my head "Ok, this is too much for me... not your confession but this acting... it's just so..."

"But you looked so handsome out there when you defeated Guiche in the duel... and took down that monster..."

Great... she knew how to arouse me... not my erotic side, not my romantic side, no, that was the old ego flaring up. "Well thanks..."

"And you know I love a man in uniform..." She tried to push my down but failed, I snapped out of it.

"Look, I've got bigger worries on my mind, last thing I need is..." I motioned to her body and mine, kinda flailing my hands a bit "this."

"What?" She sounded heartbroken, probably the first time she was ever rejected.

"I'm sorry but I just have allot on my mind right now, about my home..."

"Well then why not talk about it while we work our way around..." she said seductively.

"Well... ok..."

"What about your family?" she asked

"Dead..." I stated bluntly

"Oh..." it seemed like she was startled by the statement "I'm sorry but... what about friends?"

"Also, dead..."

"W-what are you saying you have no friends or family back home!?" she said with legitimate concern.

"Something like that..."

"But why!?"

This was something I knew was going to hurt to say... but I had to say it... "I was taken from my family at the age of 6, trained to be the best of soldiers at the time... we had the best training, best equipment and more... but it wasn't enough... family was most likely glassed, my friends... well..." I pulled out the dog-tags of noble team. And as I held up each one I spoke about them.

"Lt Commander Catherine-B320, Kat, Spartan-III, UNSC special warfare command, attached to Special warfare group three... Noble two... died with a covenant sniper blast to the head..."

"Chief Warrant officer Jorge-052, Spartan-II, Special warfare group three... Noble five... gave his life, thinking he had saved the planet from invasion... that lucky bastard."

"Commander Carter-A259, Spartan-III, Special warfare group three, Noble one, crashed his ship into an enemy heavy assault platform to save myself and Emile"

"Warrant officer Emile-A239, Spartan-III, Special warfare group three, Noble four... died with a Covenant energy sword through his abdomen, but not before taking them with him."

"Mind you there are two others I don't have the tags for... Chief Petty Officer John-S117, The Master Chief and Warrant officer Jun-A266, I have no clue as to where they are..." I walked over to the window and look out at the sky. "I miss them..." I wondered if they were still out there, I didn't turn to Kirche but I could tell she was listening, possibly trying not to break down from my story. "Spartans have an old motto... _Spartans never die... they're just missing in action..._" I sighed "Sadly... Jun and John are the only cases I know of where they truly have been recorded as MIA... truth is... I'm possibly the last Spartan alive..."

"Well then I suppose one like yourself would need some sort of comfort..." replied Kirche who tried to get on me again... then I was saved by the bitch... again...

"Kirche! What are you doing!? And why are you trying to seduce my familiar!?" Louise burst into the room as Kirche was onto of me, I gulped knowing where this was going...

"I'm afraid it can't be helped, love and fire are the destinies of the Van Zerpes family."

"Come here!" she ordered me

"Look here now!" Kirche shouted at Louise "He may be your familiar but he is still a human being with feeling and hopes, there is no reason to get in the way of romance! Right Alex?" and Kirche stuck her breasts in my face, and being the sick fuck I am.

"Y-yeah, that's right... it's unreasonable!"

"Fine! But you do realize that come tomorrow he'll be burned alive by at least ten angry noble men!"

"That is if this ever got out" I said "Plus... I'd like to see them try..."

"Come here!" Louise shouted

I sighed, something I've been doing allot I've noticed... I stood and followed Louise back to her quarters.

"Seems I was wrong trying to treat you like a human being..." she said

"What do you mean by-" she pulled out something from her dresser "Is that a riding crop?"

"Yes, it IS!" she yelled and advanced on me taking a swing. I caught her arm easily enough, to my seasoned soldier's mind her movements were slow and easily predicted.

"What's the big deal? I mean it's not like I wanted to get dragged in there, we just talked!" then she did something I should have seen coming, kneeing me in the groin.

"GAH!" My voice raised an octave but thankfully the protection my armor provided allowed me to recover quickly. But was I pissed! I didn't mean to hurt her though.

"Ahhh!" She screamed as her wrist which was still in my hand, began to fracture. I realized what I was doing and shoved her away, while she gripped her swollen wrist.

"Never again!" I roared at her and changed into my MJOLNIR armor as I sat down on the bed of straw. My anger subsided and I heard a faint sobbing, Louise was crying. I let myself out of control...

"S-sorry Louise..." I said and approached her and took her arm, rolling her sleeve up.

"W-what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Just stay calm and relax... close your eyes." She did as told and I pulled out some cotton balls with a numbing agent on it, using it to dab a bit of it on her upper biceps. Then took out a needle, I hopped she didn't notice... and injected the stuff into her... (That's totally what she said, but I digress) I pulled the needle out of her and she winced, opened her eyes and saw the needle.

"W-What did you do to me!?"

"It's morphine, a pain-killer used for war, it will stop your wrist from hurting. And this..." I took out a strand of cloth and wrapped it tightly around her wrist to brace it. Modern medicine... well to some extent. "Now get some rest..."

"Wait... um... I... I want..."

"What?"

"I-I want to... t-to apologize..."

I was shocked "You apologize to me? Well... isn't this a first?"

"HEY! If I acted like this to often to my familiar then he'd think he could get away with anything!" she screamed.

"Touché..." I rolled my eyes.

"Tomorrow we are going into town to get you a sword."

"A sword? Why would I need a sword? I've got all the weapons I'd ever need already."

"Hmmf, well I assume your magic guns use ammo right? And that blue sword requires some sort of power... that being said all those weapons are limited."

"True..." but I didn't bring up the fact that I had enough ammo to supply a whole platoon.

"Besides I'm sure you want to blend in, those weapons are a dead giveaway!"

"Yeah like my armor and clothing and attitude aren't?" I mumbled softly.

"I heard that!"

*whap*

"Ack!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Louise had taken me into town via horse... I had to ride on back and I had changed to my normal marine armor to avoid crushing the poor thing. Oh yeah and she failed to mention it was a three hour ride... it would have been faster if I tried to warp in a mongoose...

Eventually we found the weapon shop, all the while people had been giving me weird looks to which I replied with a killer stare and they just quickly looked away and went about their business.

"Hmm." Louise mused as she twiddled with a rapier "from the looks of it you could handle a much bigger sword than this..." she looked at the shopkeeper who was a rather derpy looking fellow in my opinion. "I want one that's longer and thicker!"

I couldn't resist the oppritnuity "That's what she said! HAHAAA!" and Louise glared confused daggers at me, obviously not getting it, but also getting that is was a joke at her expense.

"Well I believe this is the right size for him."

"NO! I want one that is bigger and thicker! ALEX! If you say that again I will whip you!" she finished just as I was about to repeat my previous line.

"Fine fine!" the shopkeeper grumbled and muttered something about stupid nobles to which I was inclined to agree partially. He came back out moments later with a gleaming golden sword... golden...

"This is the finest item we have here, forged with the finest methods of alchemy in Germania!"

"I'll take it how much?"

"only three thousand new gold coins."

"three thousand!? You can buy a small estate with that much money!"

"I don't suppose you take UNSC cR (credits) do you?" I got two confused glances which answered my question quickly enough.

"I only have a hundred gold on me..." complained Louise

"Well a decent claymore on average costs about two hundred gold."

"Isn't there anything I can buy for a hundred?"

"Wait! Yes there is in fact!" The shopkeeper went back and dug around in a barrel for a second then pulled out a blade, red with rust...

"You've got, to be kidding me..." I looked at the sword, dumbfounded.

"Fine I'll take it." Louise agreed

"WHAT!?" was my reaction... but the deal was done and we left the shop with the rusted blade.

"Man" I said as we walked down the street "He musta been trying to sell this thing for a loooong time..."

"I didn't have enough money due to some other expenses!"

I then remembered what Siesta had told me about Louise buying a special potion to heal me from my battle with the Brute. "Oh right..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Hoy crap!" I said as Kirche gave me the golden sword, at first she was pleased, but then realized my expression wasn't a happy one, more like a confused one. "Why would you buy this piece of junk?"

"Excuse me!?" Kirche yelped, and I could hear Louise snickering at her shock.

"It's gold, gold is a soft metal meaning it is easily broken! You'd better return this." I offered and gave the sword back.

"Oh c'mon! This sword is straight from Germania, the best blades and women come from there!"

"Women, possibly..." I could hear Louise growl at that comment "But swords, please, bring me something that can actually cut butter and we'll talk." All the while speaking with a flat and calm voice.

"Oh come on!" Kirche squealed

"Hey would you guys shut it, stupid women!" Someone yelled and we all looked for the source of the voice.

"The sword." Said Tabitha, the blue haired little girl who had followed Kirche said.

"I was takin' a nice nap then you went and woke me up!"

"Am I going crazy or is this sword talking?"

"Why so surprised" the sword said "You've got an awful silly face for someone who's a user!"

"Yup, I'm crazy..."

"Isn't that an intelligent sword? One with the power of speech?" asked Kirche

"I didn't know a thing about this creepy sword, I'm gonna return this right now!" said Louise

"Where are we? What year is it!? Ooooggh, I'm so confused!" complained my sword.

"Hah, I like this one!"

"WHAAA-?!" screamed Louise and Kirche.

"I'm Alexander, nice to meet you." I said

"I'm Derflinger, nice to meet you brother!"

"Why is it that all the really weird thing always seem to happen to me?" and Louise sighed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"Welcome to Reach..."

The dreams were getting more and more realistic...

We were on one of the two metal birds identified as _Falcons _and we were heading towards something called a _relay station _whatever those are.

We were flying along a cliff face when the Blue Spartan, Carter spoke up "Listen up Noble Team we're looking at a downed relay outpost, fifty clicks from relay Visigrad, we're gonna introduce ourselves to who ever took it out and then Kat's gonna get it back online."

A voice crackled in my helmet "Get me under the hood commander" said Kat

"Sir, why would rebels want to cut off coms from the rest of the colonies?" asked Jorge

"If you get a chance, maybe you can ask 'em Jorge?" Carter replied with the slightest bit of cold humor.

After a few moments of flight Kat spoke again "Commander, we just lost all contact with HQ."

"Back up channels?" Carter asked

"13 channels... nadda... can't say what's jamming us though."

"You heard her, Deadzone confirmed, command will not be keeping us company on this trip."

"I'm getting lonely already..." said Emile.

The dream fast forwarded again, I saw brief glimpses of battle with an assortment of strange creatures. Eventually the head pounding stopped and the dream slowed down again. I was standing over a horrid sight... personally I wanted to throw up, but the body I was inhabiting was able to keep his lunch down.

I stood over the body of a old man who lay in a pool of his own blood. While the others took to inspecting the surrounding area.

Carter walked over to an injured marine in the corner "Where's the rest of your unit?" he asked

"W-we got split... I don't think they..." there was a pause "It sounded bad on the coms..."

"Alright corporal, stay put, we'll get you a combat surgeon."

I reached down towards the bloody man on the ground and inspected him as something fell out of his coat pocket. A card of some sort.

"Damn, plasma burns." Said Kat.

I picked up the card, "Found something" I said and held up the card only for Kat to snatch it away.

"I'll take that Six, not your domain."

"I got a live one over here!" Called Jorge and pulled out a woman in her late teens or early twenties who was trying in vain to beat Jorge of her as he pulled her out her hiding place.

She was speaking a strange language I didn't understand but Jorge said calmly. "It ok, I won't hurt you."

"Jorge!" Said Carter

"I got her... stay still... and I'll release you..." and slowly the girl obeyed and stood still... then to my shock three of the split jawed creatures dropped down with glowing blue swords, two ran out of the room after attacking us but one stayed and jumped on me but I punched it in the face and it roared. It was then deterred by the rest of Noble team and it ran out the door.

I could hear screaming as the Elites as they were called took the injured marine hostage and the screams from the girl in terror.

"Another one got out, permission to pursue?" asked Jorge

"Negative, stay on them, Two, handle the girl, Five and Six clear the hole!"

"Aye sir!" said Jorge and I followed him through the door as I reloaded my gun.

I turned back to watch as Jorge slammed the door shut behind us and the dream fast-forwarded again.

This time I was back in the room with the rest of the team as Kat opened up a panel under some strange box with buttons all over it.

"How long?" asked Carter.

"Hmmf, question of my life" Kat replied. "If the question is when will this relay be back up and operational... I'd say two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage! All major uplink components are fried."

All this technological crap they were spewing made zero sense to me what so ever!

"Two minutes is to long" Said Carter

"Which is why I'm splicing into the main over line bundle to get you a direct link to Command... your in my light commander."

"Find out what she knows" said Carter and pointed to the girl in the corner.

Jorge approached her and tried to get her attention but she just shoved him off and Emile chuckled.

"What's your name? Do you live around here?" Jorge asked and removed his helmet. "_A nevem Jorge_" he said in a strange language.

"Sharla..."

"Sharla? You accent sounds familiar... shapro?"

"Jengari" replied Sharla. Jorge looked at the body...

"Friend of yours?"

"Father"

And my heart sank... bearing witness to the death of your own father and not being able to do anything but cower in fear... I already pitied the girl.

"Sharla Long, I'm sorry"

"Why would you be?!"

Emile chuckled again "Big man forgets what he is sometimes..."

Jorge walked past us "She just lost her father!" he turned to Carter "She needs a full psychiatric work out."

"She's not the only one" commented Emile which set Jorge off.

"Lock it down both of you!" commanded Carter. "Get her on her feet... the body stays here."

"Thank you sir."

Jorge walked back past us again and glared at Emile before helping Sharla up and leading her out.

"Signal!" Kat proclaimed "It's patchy but it's there"

"I'll take it" said Carter and walked over to the sparking box of lights.

"Best not touch anything... you wouldn't want to ground this place."

"Noble team we are receiving you, what is your current situation?" asked a man from inside the box. I heard this as I was walking away with the others.

"Colonel, there are no rebels. The covenant are on Reach!"

"Come again Noble one, did you say Covenant?"

"Affirmative... it's the winter contingency..."

"Then may god help us all..."

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Let me know what you think of this so far, feel free to critique, compliment, or hint/tip me in a review. Thanks guys.**

**PS: As a reminder, let me know what you think of bringing the UNSC and Covenant into the world of FoZ.**

**WTYL. (Write to you later)**

**:D**


	4. Leave no one behind!

**So just as a heads up, some things that were one way in the original will be different in this one, for example the Staff of destruction won't be a M72 LAW, rather... something else... same with the Zero fighter.**

**And please, if you are taking the time to read this, kindly take the time to review, this is as of right now the story with the longest chapters that I have out. And it took me quite some time to get these right... that being said, I'd like to know whether the story is good, or if there are any issues that need addressing.**

**PS: longest chapter so far, feels good, hah!**

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

My left eye twitched at the girl's obnoxiousness. I was attempting to wash a pair of stockings in a fountain just outside her dorm tower. "Ugh, this is freezing! Why the hell did she make me do this now!?"

*flashback*

"This is silk! You have to try to be very gentle and careful when you wash it! Go and do it again!" Louise had yelled at me and threw them back in my face.

*End Flashback*

"This is retarded! It's just a pair of freakin' stockings what the big fuckin' deal!?" at this point I was accustomed to talking to myself, as I was the only one who listened or even cared for that matter.

"Mr. Alexander?" said someone from behind

"Whoa!" I jumped, not paying attention... Damnit that has gotten me severally injured before. Thankfully the speaker was a friend. "Ah, sorry Siesta, I didn't realize it was you..."

"No worries, sorry for startling you though... what are you doing?"

"Ack..." I grumbled "Trying to wash silk... pfft, I'm not even cut out for this... I'm a soldier, not a servant... no offence..."

"None taken! Here let me show you..." and she took the stockings from me and washed them in a bucket next to the fountain. "Then you need to let them dry in the shade." She gave the bucket back to me.

"Thanks Siesta, you're a life saver... or at least an ear saver, hah! You know before I came here, we had machines to wash things for us... then again where I came from, I almost never got out of my armor."

"Haha, but you are now!" Well, technically I was still in armor, my marine armor, but considering I meant my MJOLNIR armor I guess she had a point. "That reminds me, what was your home world like?"

"Well Siesta, it was... nothing like it is here... to say the least... back home there is no magic."

"No magic!?" She exclaimed sounding scared

"Nope, we had a different way of doing things... but I'll explain more about that later."

"Um... Mr. Alexander, I-I just wanted to thank you." Siesta bowed to me.

"Thank me? For what?"

"You never give up no matter what! Even when at your last breath! Even against the nobility! Seeing you like that has given me allot of courage, I can continue to do my best all because of you Mr. Alexander"

"Ha! Well, that's very nice of you to say Siesta, you flatter me..." I lowered my voice again "Unlike SOMEONE!" returned it to normal "Well, g'night"

"Good night Mr. Alexander" and she walked away, as I watched her leave I swear she looked depressed... strange considering she had just given me a small speech about her courage...

On the way back to Louise's room I was thinking about what had just happened... I reached the floor and was making my way towards her room when one of the other dorm rooms opened and Kirche was standing there in her lingerie and she seemed to beam when she saw me.

"Y-you know it's late and I've got plans for tomorrow" it was a dead lie "See ya"

"Hey" she called as I speed walked past "Remember that sword I bought you yesterday?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, what if I were to give it to you for free?"

I thought about it for a while, then I realized it wasn't my brain that was doing the thinking, more like another appendage... I shook my head clear "Why don't you return it? Or if you can't do that then re-sell it. I don't want it cuz it would break as soon as I struck!"

"Oh c'mon, I just want to talk..."

"Thanks but maybe another time... I'm exhausted right now... I gotta go to sleep..." and that's what I did...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"Affirmative... It's the winter contingency."

"May god help us all..."

The dream came back with a vengeance, but slowly this time... we were on falcons again, headed across an icy ocean.

"Be advised Kilo 3-3 and 3-4, your current LZ is too hot." Said the driver

"Roger that, Dot, standby to receive and reply." Said Carter.

"Yes commander coordinates received, initiate immediate course correction." Replied a female but metallic sounding voice. "The office of naval intelligence's Sword Base is under siege from a Corvette class Covenant vessel. Due to other nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds is, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettable my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful... however current defensive forces are insignificant, ONI has requested Noble team's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."

"Alright people, we're stuck with that ship for the time being, lets focus all efforts on hostile infantry, give those troopers a hand." Ordered Carter as we flew over a group of aliens who were attacking some Human soldiers. "Kat, Six, your outta here... Jorge and Emile, your next. Now get prepped."

"Let's move Lieutenant!" said Kat and pulled her gun back and we jumped out of the Falcons and readied for battle...

The dream fast forwarded... it seemed like it only wanted to show me important parts rather than mindless battle. But I as the dream skipped forward I could see blurry battles and bits of conflict. Eventually it stopped and I looked out from a ruined building at a huge airship! It had blue fire coming out the back and it's shape reminded me of a whale... a big, purple, flying whale! Two smaller airships were following it, ships that looked like bats... as the ships got closer the veered off and a meteor going at super speeds pierced right through the giant ship and it crashed into the ocean, all the while exploding in purple and blue flames as it sunk.

"Beautiful 'aint it?" asked Jorge as he approached me from the inside of the building. "Someone should take a picture... nice work by the way" and he clapped me on the back.

"I aim to please" I replied.

Then Carter's voice spoke to us through our helmets "Five, Six, get down here... Dr. Halsey wants to talk to de-brief us and command is saying we're all her's."

"repeat? It sounded like you said Halsey." Asked Jorge

"I did"

"Copy that, on our way..." Jorge turned to me "Don't need command to tell me... been her's all half my life."

I followed Jorge to the bottom of Sword Base and found Kat and Carter standing in front of a blue glass wall with an elder lady in a white coat standing behind it, she looked like a peasant or commoner.

"I requested your assistance commander, and do not need reports of things that happened on my own doorstep. What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement with..." the lady looked past Carter. "Jorge... it's been too long."

"Mom" and Jorge nodded

"What have you done to my armor" she said with a bit of humor and seemed mildly impressed

"Just some... additions I've made." Jorge replied.

"Indeed... now then, Visigrad relay, it's data center was home to one of my Zino archeologists, Professor Lazlo Sorvad, perhaps you could shed some light on his death." She nodded at Carter

"If he was a civilian male in mid sixty's, he died with a Covenant Energy Sword through his abdomen."

"Hmm, Elites then?"

"They engaged us as well, it was uhhh... right after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am, she was hiding in the-" Jorge was cut off

"Irrelevant! The Elites, tell me more about them"

"Three, Zealot class, one got by us, the leader from the looks of it."

"Zealots? Your certain of it?"

"Their armor configuration matched."

"Shield strength too." I added

"I gave the order not to pursue; our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."

"Your primary objective commander? Are you a puppet or a Spartan!?" She demanded clearly miffed. What I bitch I thought...

"Ma'am?"

"There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant send Elite advance teams to scout out and retrieve artifact of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest that such teams are small, nimble and almost always, Zealot class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavations data stored there... and you let them get away..."

"Data retrieval was not a command directive, even if we had known, we had more urgent matters to attend to."

"Like warning the planet" Interjected Kat.

"Professor Sorvad's final entry into his notes was a reference to a latchkey discovery he made... latchkey... not a word he would use lightly... so let's hope the data module your Lt. Commander stole... contains it..."

"Kat..." Carter pointed to the drop box in front of Halsey.

"Before you ask I was alerted the moment you tried to access it's content... as I am with any unauthorised tap..." Kat put the chip we had found earlier into the box. "That data is classified tier one... I could have you sent to the brig for interfering with my work."

"Maybe you'd like to join her!?" snapped Carter, I was impressed, this woman clearly had a high state of authority.

"I'm sorry!?" asked an un-amused Halsey.

"We're currently under emergency planetary defensive directive... Winter Contingency... I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with Spartan deployment?"

"Are you threatening me commander!?"

"Just makin' a readin' suggestion ma'am... let's move Noble Team."

"Mom?" said Jorge

"That, will be all Jorge..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

We were standing outside her class room, Louise's that it, me and her... anyways... "Hey I think I'll skip out on joining your class today."

"Awwww" She whined "Why?" I was surprised she wasn't yelling at me to attend with her, but I assume she already half knew the answer.

"Well let's see, my mere presence prevents other students from concentrating, I get bored in there so my temper and patience is short... oh! And I almost shot Kirche!"

"Are you kidding that was the best part!" Louise exclaimed

"Even so, I'd rather not dig myself to deep a grave in this school... I'll check in with you at lunch and then wait outside... I'd rather sit in the sun and grass today."

"Alright fine... but you'd better be there or there'll be hell to pay!" Ah... there was the ol' demanding master Louise I knew...

"Yeah, Yeah..." and I walked along one of the arched hallways in the courtyards, looking over my equipment... today I was equipped with my MA5B and M6G as per-usual along with my MJOLNIR armor, my helmet under my arm, and Derflinger at my side in a sheath. Now you're probably wondering why I was so heavily armed... well... it just felt like one of those days...

Then suddenly a big hand clapped me on the back. "Hey there our sword!" Said Marteau.

"Hi Marteau"

"Please Our Sword, why don't you swing by the kitchen again later?"

"Sure thanks!" I replied.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Thanks allot Marteau, these meals are better than I deserve." I said

"Hmm, you don't need to modest these are all left over's from the nobility's meals!"

"Hey where's Siesta?" I hadn't seen her all day; normally I'd see her once or twice every day, whether it was passing by her, seeing her in the corner somewhere or whenever we'd talk. "Oh right, her main duty isn't in the kitchen so she's not always hanging around here like you... but have you seen her?"

"What?" said Marteau with shock "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

After Marteau explained what happened I felt a hollowness inside... I don't have anything to compare the pain with, I'd never felt like this before, except when Noble team had died... I think the term was heartbroken. "You mean she's not working here anymore?" Heartbroken, that was defiantly it... Siesta had been my only, sane, friend here... and now she was gone.

"Yeah, it was decided that she be a servant for a nobleman named Count Mott, she was picked up and taken away in a carriage this morning..."

"What!? How come!?" I exclaimed "Why so suddenly?"

"In the end, peasants and commoners can do nothing but obey the whims of the nobility..." he turned to the kitchen staff that were lazing about "Hey you guys! Get back to work!"

'Siesta...' I thought to the night before... 'why didn't you tell me...' I sighed...

I went back to Louise's classroom and the rest of the day went by surprisingly fast without so much as a hitch... uncommon, but not unwelcome... still... I couldn't shake that empty feeling... when I brought it up with Louise who seemed in a more merciful mood at the moment.

"Count Mott is a messenger from the Palace who comes by from time to time, I don't like him cuz he always acts so cocky..."

Normally I would have made a crack about her being a hypocrite but I just wasn't feeling like insulting her right now. "But why would Siesta be sent to work for someone so high in society?"

My sword, Derflinger popped out of the sheath. "When a nobleman make a request for a young girl by name, it usually in order for her to become his mistress... I don't believe this, don't you know anything!?"

"H-his mistress!? That's a violation of human rights! Oh right... we're not in the Sol System anymore..."

"I've heard allot of storied about things like that, involving many of the nobility..."

I gritted my teeth... *BANG*

"AHH!" Louise yelped... the sound had scared her, I hadn't realised I had my magnum out and accidentally shot a round at the floor from gripping the gun so hard.

"Sorry..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I stood in the dining hall waiting for my Familiar to arrive. "Not here for dinner either? Where is that damned familiar of mine!?" I muttered and heard plates clatter behind me. I turned around only to find Kirche there with a push tray of food. "What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing much, but I feel sorry for Alexander for having to eat such crude meals all the time so I thought about giving him some of my food."

"So you're out to capture his heart by bribing him?" I scoffed "Typical... and don't feed someone else's familiar without permission!"

"Yeah well he's not here... where did he go?"

I sighed and thought for a bit, looking around in the meantime... "He went to go wash some dust off and still hasn't come back... I don't know where he is."

"Oh hey Louise" Said Guiche who was sitting nearby, he must have overheard us "Earlier today he asked me how to reach Count Mott's manor."

"He went to see Count Mott!?" I exclaimed

"Maybe he got fed up with you Louise and decided he needed a change... though... I've never heard of a familiar switching masters before" Said Kirche

"But this is Louise's familiar" pointed out Guiche, to which I wanted to blast that stuck up asshole...

"Well you have a point there" Scratch that... now I wanted to blast Kirche and Guiche on the spot...

"Though I can't possibly imagine Count Mott, a person who works for the palace, using him!"

I stormed out of the dining hall... I'd have to go get a horse from the stables and head to Count Mott's before my Familiar got into too much trouble...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Siesta's POV**

I stood next to Count Mott, awaiting his instructions... I had an inkling feeling to what the real reason I was here was... but every fiber in my body and mind was begging for that feeling to be wrong.

"So how are you settling in to your new work?" he asked me

"Fine... sir... for the most part anyways..."

Count Mott stood up and walked towards me "I see, I see... well, don't overexert yourself too much..." he walked behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes sir..." I replied, the fibers in my mind and body I think fainted a long time ago at this point... but I for one was shaking inside.

"Certainly you must realise by now, that I did not hire you to merely perform household chores... my Siesta..." I could feel his breath and I remember only one thought going through my mind at the time... it was either.

'I don't wanna be raped, I don't wanna be raped, I don't wanna be raaaaaped...' or 'please don't let me lose my virginity to this creep, please don't let me lose my virginity to this creep, please don't let me lose my virginity to this creep' maybe they were both going through at the same time and I didn't hear them both.

There was a knock on the door behind me and Count Mott lifted his arm and head, saved by the bell right? ehehe...

"What is it?!" Demanded Mott

"Someone named Alexander is here to see you my lord!" said a guard

'Alexander!' my spirits picked up, but I was worried he might do something stupid... I was forced out of the room but I peeked through a crack to see what was going on.

"You should be thankful, for me to go out of my way to waste time on a ridiculous peasant... and a oddly dressed one too!" Mott shouted at Alexander, I hopped his temper didn't get the better of him.

"Count Mott wait! If you let Siesta come back to the academy, I'll do anything!" he pleaded which was unlike him.

"Oh? And what kind of relationship do you have with Siesta?"

"We're kina co-workers I guess you could say... we work in different areas however..." said Alexander

"Hmmf, a mere servant"

"Well, sir, I heard when a nobleman requests a young girl by name its usually her job to become some sort of mistress for his own personal enjoyment..."

"HA!" Mott laughed "Siesta is an official servant of the Mott Household now, and the master is free to do whatever he wishes to his servants."

"I assumed as much!"

"I don't know what you're getting upset about! A nameless peasant like you providing service to a powerful nobleman like me... ha... there is no greater honor..."

"Don't mock me!" Alexander shouted and stepped forward only to be cut off by Mott's guards. "Your just doing whatever pleases you because you know Siesta can't refuse! That's disrespectful and a violation of my beliefs you bastard!"

"You, a mere peasant! Dare to insult a nobleman!" Mott walked over to a pot holding his staff and retrieved it. "Sit down!"

"Count Mott!" I burst in and knelt at his feet "Please forgive my friend he is just highly protective."

"Siesta! Stay out of this!" Yelled Alexander

"Please Count Mott, I beg of you, I'll accept any punishment you wish to impose, but please don't hurt him!"

"Siesta! No! Don't make that deal!"

"Hmmm..." Count Mott raised his staff and walked over to a bookshelf. "Alexander or whatever your name was, you said you'd do anything, did you mean that?"

"Yeah I did!"

"My hobby is to collect printed matter... in fact there is a book I cannot cease to desire..."

"What kind of book?"

"A very special book that a certain mage once summoned during a failed magic experiment a long time ago... I hear it's the family heirloom of an established family from Germania. The daughter of that family is currently attending classes at the academy.. I'm not sure if a peasant like you knows of her, but it is the daughter of the Zerpes family."

"That would be a description of Kirche... I'll get the book for you" Alexander agreed...

"If you want Siesta back, bring me that book..."

"Deal..." Alexander said, but I noticed his helmet appeared in his hand and he put in on his head, it covered his face and looked real intimidating, especially to Count Mott, a rather short man who stood a whole foot lower than him. "But if I find out you defiled Siesta... in anyway... deal or not, I... Will... Kill you..." and he left without another word at a sprint.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

I heard the gallop of a horse as I left the Mott estate... despite the fact I was driving a mongoose... yeah... the teleportation field, worked... I only hopped that the UNSC would notice the missing vehicles I pulled from there and try and figure out where they were going.

I pulled on the handbrakes of the Mongoose ATV as Louise rode past me. "Louise? What are you doing here!?" I demanded. But she was just staring at me, mouth hung open in an _O_.

"I came to find you... but... H-how!? Your riding that... thing with no... I mean its just so... It... wait..." she said

"Great here comes the punishment..." but it didn't come.

"Is that a Mongoose?" she asked

I was shocked "H-how do you know the name of the UNSC light one-two man transport!? I didn't even tell you!"

Louise blushed. "I'll tell you later..." her attitude returned with a vengeance "now then follow me! We're heading back to the school!"

"Yeah yeah!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"You're dealing with one of the higher ups in the palace... you can't possibly begin to make a comparison between him and Guiche." Said Louise

"Don't you feel the least bit sorry for Siesta?"

"Of course I feel bad for her, but there's really nothing you can do about it..." she crawled into her bed. "Now, shut up and go to sleep"

"What!? You can't just brush this off!" I yelled

"AAHH! Don't scream right behind me!"

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

"Well either way you're just going to have to give up on Siesta, ok?"

"Yeah, ok..."

Moments later once she was asleep and the lights were out, I checked to make sure she was really asleep. 'good' I thought 'now I can get to work'. I headed over to Kirche's room, luckily she was still awake.

"You want the family heirloom? Oh.. thaaaat..." she pointed at a chest with her wand and for a moment I thought it was going to explode... *sigh* been around Louise to long if I start thinking everyone is gonna cause an explosion when they use magic... "Unlike Tabitha books don't interest me..."

"You mean you brought it with you?" I asked

"They said it's a tool I'll need for my wedding..."

"Tool...? for your wedding? Hmmf... some book..."

"I heard that it has the effect of stimulating men's desires..." Kirche answered

"Pfft, no wonder that ol' bastard want the book so bad..."

"In any case, I don't think I need anything like that, right Alexander?" she pointed her but at me which she may as well not have been wearing any panties with the way her underwear disappeared into her... never mind...

"W-well... of course not."

"Then I don't mind giving this to you." She held up the book.

"Really? Well... that was easy." I reached for the book but she grabbed me around the head.

"But! In return I get to take you out, is it a deal?"

I pushed away from her "Hey! All you nobility are all damned stuck up bastards! You only care about yourselves!" And I stormed out of the room... I was gonna do this old fashioned style... I ran back down to the main gate of the academy and jumped on the Mongoose. I was glad this thing had a really nice muffler to tone down the sound of the engine. I guess this must have been a covert variant of it... lucky me!

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I made it to the gate of Mott's mansion and entered silently... I made it to the bottom of a set of stairs leading up into the mansion before I spotted a guard... sadly... MJOLNIR armor isn't exactly stealthy... and he saw me.

"Hey you there! Stop!" I put my hands up. Sure I could have easily taken them, or activated Active-Camo but I figured that would only put Siesta in more danger.

I was brought before Count Mott. Who said I was to be released so I could speak better... his mistake in a moment, but I would humor him for the time being...

"What were you planning to do with such a thing on your back" he pointed, indicating my MA5B, apparently he hadn't noticed my Energy Sword or M6G. I removed my helmet...

"The roads are dangerous these days..." I replied.

"No nobility is whimsical enough to simply hand over treasure to a mere peasant... I wanted to enjoy whether or not you would struggle with it... but you gave up much to quickly... how pathetic..."

"I didn't give up... Sir Mott..." he looked back up at me... "I'm going to rescue Siesta! Either way!" and I put my helmet back on and cracked my knuckles... the guards left my side and ran in front of Mott and crossed their spears in front of him... I sparked my energy sword to life... apparently they had never seen a weapon like this before and were taken by surprise.

"I've never seen a peasant show such foolishness as you have today!" said Mott

"Yeah well guess what, I'm just full of surprises aint I?" I slashed and the tips of the guard's pikes were severed and fell to the ground, burning and with the metal parts turning in to a molten liquid.

"What kind of weaponry is this!? A blue sword enchanted with fire! Well I am a triangle class mage, preferring water magic! Fire's opposite and killer! You will be no match for me!" and Mott pointed at a vase with his staff and it fell over spilling the water. He thrust towards me with his staff and the water rushed at me in a jet, slamming into me... knocking me on my back... the water had been hard... it had even damaged my shield a bit.

"I'm impressed you could survive that... but how about this!" the water changed into multiple Razor ice shards and he threw them at me, most missed but two hit me... I was surprised when it actually took down my shields... I guess magic was magic eh? But I didn't want to gamble with its ability to penetrate my armor... my shields hadn't recharged yet as Mott sent more shards at me, I melted several with my Energy Sword... but I missed one.

"ALEXANDER!" Shouted a voice and Louise, Tabitha and Kirche burst in, Louise blasted the last ice shard before it could hit my visor... I breathed a sigh of relief... that was close... whether it would have penetrated or not I was glad I didn't have to take the chance...

"WHAT!?" shouted Count Mott... and as the smoke cleared I noticed my armor was a bit sootier then usual... probably from the explosion Louise caused... well... they call me Scorch for a reason...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"The level of conduct of the academy's pupils has greatly fallen; I will demand that old Osmond be severely reprehended for this!"

"I apologize for entering without permission, as the situation required me to act swiftly. Also misconduct of a familiar is also considered to be misconduct of its master as well and that would be me... I am willing to accept any form of punishment..."

"Louise don't." I said, this arrogant son of a bitch didn't have the right to punish someone for his OWN misconducts!

"Pointing a sword at an official of the palace is a severe crime of the first degree, be prepared to have your entire family face the consequences..."

"Wha-"

"Pardon me count Mott" Said Kirche and she stepped forward, lifting her shirt "How about we make a deal?" she stuck her hand in her skirt.

"W-what are you doing there?"

She pulled out a book and I sighed, at least she wasn't doing what I thought she was doing... "I heard you desired to posses this book, am I right?"

"Huh?"

"Pardon my belated introduction your Excellency, but my name is Kirche von Zerpes."

"You're a Zerpes!? Then that must be the..."

"Summoned book? Here..." and she handed the book over to Count Mott.

"The famed book is finally in my hands..." said Mott

"Kirche, are you sure about this?" Louise asked

"Meh, I looked inside and it's nothing I'd ever want or need..." Replied Kirche

"Un-necessary" added Tabitha.

"Hey! You said you'd give Siesta back!" I shouted

"Hand Siesta over to them." Said Mott.

"Right!" and a guard went over and unlocked a door to find Siesta.

"It opened!" Exclaimed Mott. Seriously what was so exciting about a book? "Oh, haha... I don't understand any of these letter of the language these are in... But to think such a thing existed in this world!"

"WHAT!" I yelped as I saw what the book really was... "It's an old earth porn magazine... I used to see troopers around base with issues of these all the time..." I could easily read the words, how they couldn't read English was beyond me, I mean... wait... never mind I remembered the translator piece... for a moment there I thought they spoke English... stupid, stupid! Mind you I never read or looked up things like that... heh... no, not cuz I'm a goody-two-shoes or an innocent son of a gun... I just didn't have the time... yeah yeah go and call me a sick fuck for all I care... *sigh*

"A what?" asked Louise.

"Its basically a book of nude women and sex..." Louise's face paled... "Wait you said you got that from a summoned one?"

"Yeah a long time ago my grandfather bought it from a mage who just happened to summon it by mistake..."

"A summoned one huh? That's the same situation as me... but..." I shook my head clear, well... maybe the whole summoning thing took things from other places in the universe... if that was the case, who knows what else I would find here.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Siesta's POV**

"Thank you so much! Really I mean it!" I said as I bowed to Mr. Alexander

"Ha, thanks, but in the end it was really Louise and Kirche who saved the day... I just did the heavy lifting... as usual..."

"Maybe, but it was all because you did your best Mr. Alexander" I noticed a slight blush upon that comment. I wondered if he was always this awkward around girls... military women were probably one thing, but civilian women were most likely another.

"W-well thanks but-" oooooh... I couldn't help it any longer... I stepped up to him and kissed him, I had to stand on my tipee-toes, even then I couldn't reach his cheek... so, I went for the lips. At first he recoiled so I thought I had set him off... but to my surprise he didn't fully pull away, instead I found him returning the kiss, it made me feel so good inside. But whether it was his feelings or emotions that were the drive for this returned kiss I didn't know. I had a feeling in my heart that he was bound for another woman... but hey, he was the one who gave me the courage never to give up. That being said I wasn't going to give up. If he went after another girl, so be it, I'd just have to prove to him that I was better! Or at least make the other woman's life a living hell to some degree...

As the kiss prolonged I realized that I'd still have to work with him, so as to make sure he didn't take things to far... or myself for that matter, I backed off of him and giggled softly. "Well... g'night Mr. Alexander!" I said using his shortened version of _Good night_ and quickly ran off leaving his standing there, blushing and awkward. "Yeah, G-g-g'night Siesta!" he stuttered... It was worth it, hehe!

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter, if I work hard enough I can finish one chapter a day and post it the next, a rare feat on my part xD.**

**But anyways, leave a review on what you did, or didn't like, and if you liked it enough why not follow/favorite it, it would help me stay motivated to write this :D. I'll write ya later, WTYL!**


	5. Cutting Corners

**Ok, I'm going to explain a few things first. Scorch, or as he is known better in this story, Alexander, is a clone of Noble 6, this you should already know. However the cloning process will not completely copy the original. This being said his attitude and emotions changed, being less up-tight. Basically right now he is an exact copy of Noble 6, but he is more light-hearted, being one of those witty, smart mouth's then a die-hard soldier. This is a result of the cloning process... more is explained later in both this and other OOB and AOL stories.**

**Also the story might change later on, for now the first season will remain similar to the original.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Ok... so, Louise was having me march on the spot in her room for some reason... "No your doing it wrong!" she yelled

"What!? I'm a soldier, I've been one for over a decade and a half before now! I know how to march!" I retorted.

"Uuuuugh! When have to be consciousness on some physical task I cannot perform as well as I would wish!"

Then I said something like "Um... are you high? Cuz that didn't make sense!"

"I am what? High?" she cocked her head which I will admit, despite she was just in the process of yelling at me was really cute, but more like that, puppy dog type cute, not the... never mind...

"You know, did you just do crack!? Or some shit like that!?"

"Crack?"

"..." I sighed "Never mind..."

Then Louise sighed and sat down on her bed "Nothing about you is right, your manners, your way of speech..."

"Hey! What's with this all of a sudden! You're complaining about everything! I'm not that bad!"

"Geez, I was so careless I'd completely forgotten about the exhibition..."

"Exhibition?"

"Tristane Magic Academy holds a gathering which happens every year, during it the second year students summon the familiars they summoned to everyone at the institute..."

"Sounds kinda dumb, why don't you just skip the whole damned thing?"

Louise had gotten up and walked past me, then turned around saying "Second year students are required to attend! In any case..." she shook her head "I just want to avoid anymore embarrassment. Since you can speak I was thinking you could do some sort of witty speech or sing or dance or something..."

"Hey! I know something I'm really good at" this comment was probably gonna get me slapped, but it was worth it.

"Really!" she beamed and jumped "What!?"

"Yeah! Washing your panties!" I held a pair and snickered, Louise just growled at me... "How about I demonstrate to everyone there how good I am at washing your panties!?" I cleared my throat and gave it my best female impression voice. "Yes, well, my master might have a face like that... but underneath she always wears fancy little lace panties like this one! She's so fashionable, even down there..." I snickered then hear the riding crop being brought out with a _snap, _well, I found something in my inventory that would even the playing field...

"Is that everything... you wanted to say...?" She growled.

"It was a joke! Oh any unless you plan on spending the whole exhibition on the floor I suggest you put that away."

"What are you talking about! Stupid dog!"

I pulled out a small hand held baton that looked like the riding crop, only the end wasn't hard leather, rather it was glowing blue with an electric charge. "This, is a stun baton, also known as the tazer baton... so unless you feel like getting a shock I suggest you put that riding crop away! Two can play at this game now!" before we could do anything to each other... wow... that... that sounded wrong... but I digress. Derf fell over and Louise noticed something.

"Hey that's right, you're a really good fighter right? You can show them some of your fighting capabilities!"

"I don't think so... I mean where the hell would we find another Brute or monster I could fight... if anything else then what student in their right mind would just let me beat them up for show?"

"Ugh, we don't have time for this! Figure out what you're going to do and then come find me before class is over!"

I sighed as Louise walked out, I opened my inventory and looked through it. "Junk, junk, junk... nope, nope, erm... NOPE..." I muttered. "Hmm... I wonder what ever happened to that Brute I killed anyways..." from the looks of it they may have burnt it up or maybe that Colbert guy was studying it... I'd check in with him later, for now I had to think of what I was doing for this _Talent Show for Familiars _thing...

I went outside with Derf and took a few swings with it... him... I don't know was I able to call it/him a him? For the time being since it had such a masculine voice I was going to refer to it as him... so... I took a few swings with him. The weight was off and the blade felt unbalanced... I preferred my energy sword to him... but I didn't want to go over kill and just swing my flashy sword around... too much of an attention hog...

I fell on my back not sure what to do next... I racked the ideas in my mind... I could sing a song sure, I knew the song _Blow Me Away _good enough, but I didn't have a guitar, nor did I even know how to play one... plus it would probably be too... advanced of music, for their tastes... dancing was out of the question... I can't dance for shit. Sword play and gunmanship were really all I could think of for the time being... I started to wonder if I had any training hologram emitters in my inventory... doubted it but it was worth a check. As I was about to look I noticed a shadow pass over me.

"Hello Mr. Alexander, what are you doing down there?" it was Siesta... I thought back to the night before when she kissed me... and... I'll be honest... that was the first time I'd been kissed... ever! I mean my time in the army didn't allow me time to interact with civilian woman, nor was I interested due to the Spartan program's influence... but after being cloned I realized I took a much greater interest in women then I had before, I also showed more emotions and I no long had the itch that nagged at me, waiting for my next kill. In a sense... I was more at ease then I had ever been as a full-fledged Spartan... sure I still was but... well... you know what I mean. I hope...

"S-Siesta!" I stood up quickly "Wh-what a surprise..." I stuttered... "Nothing!"

"Oh I know! You're practicing for the exhibition right?"

Practicing wasn't the right word, but close enough "Y-yeah something like that... how did you know?" I was amazed that she was able to keep her cool after last night... me on the other hand felt like I was going to mess up my words any second and embarrass myself completely.

"All the second year students are busy training their familiars for this year's exhibition. Oh yeah and this year Lady Henrietta will be coming to participate."

I was quiet for a bit before saying "That's great, but who is this Lady Henrietta?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We were walking along one of the covered paths, I had my arms crossed as we watched some of the other students, namely Kirche, Guiche, Montmorency and some other pudgy kid who always had these pink bubbles under his eyes... I didn't know his name nor did I really care. Most of what I saw was a complete disappointment... Guiche was simply staring longingly at Verdande (which I found disturbing), Kirche was instructing Flame to shoot fire in fancy patterns. (I'll admit her's was the best I saw there), Montmorency was just putting a bow on her Toad to which I don't know the name of. Meanwhile Tabitha was just sitting in the corner, I almost didn't notice her...

"So you're not kidding, this Princess, this Lady Henrietta is coming here to watch all this?" I asked Siesta

"Lady Henrietta has been the great symbol of our existence to all our citizens since the king passed away a few years ago." Siesta explained

"Oh, I get it, so she's pretty popular then I take it?" Bah, Monarchs, I really hated dictatorship (or similar types of) governments... so it's only fair that I hate the leaders of said governments... fair enough that I hadn't met her I just had a feeling I wasn't going to like her.

Then me and Siesta heard a commotion from where the others were, apparently Flame had gotten out of control and was mindlessly shooting fire... I shrugged, it was Kirche's job to keep her familiar under control... wow... I didn't realize how ironic that sounded till just now... "Well I think there is a couple people here with their own objectives" I could hear Siesta giggle softly... damn... she was cute.

"We're terribly busy getting ready for the princess to arrive so I have to go." She bowed slightly "see you later"

"Alright, later." I said as she walked away.

"Oh!" Siesta seemed as though she remembered something, she put down a basket she was carrying and ran back to me and grabbed my hand with both her small hands. "I hope you have a nice exhibition Mr. Alexander."

"Y-yeah, thanks..." I knew I was blushing again... oddly enough she wasn't. I found myself wondering how she did it... maybe she was just better at hiding it then me... she dropped my hand and ran back to get her basket then continued towards... well, where ever she was going. I scratched the back of my head... was I ever going to understand women... nah... probably not...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"The Princess of Tristane! Her Royal Highness, Lady Henrietta has arrived!" Shouted a voice from the walls around the academy. I stood in the crowd with Louise watching the princess arrive...

"What's your problem?" asked Louise who noticed me scowling "Show respect to the princess! Even when she isn't here!"

"I don't even know your princess! This aint my government... besides... if stereotypes and clichés all hold true then she'd probably just some fat, arrogant, over indulging-" my rant was cut off as people all around me gasped and I looked up to see a girl about my age stepping out of one of the carriages, she had shoulder length purple hair and blue eyes and wore an elegant purple cloak over white robes with jewels encrusted in them. "Holy crap she's hot as hell! And I've heard that's pretty hot!" thankfully the crowd was already cheering loud enough so no one heard that... but Louise... of course...

"You damned dog! Thinking about the princess like that!" Louise's eye was twitching and she had a scowl on that said I was gonna get an earful after we watched this.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We got back to Louise's room and I did my best trying to impress her with some swordsmanship as it was too late to be firing off gunshots... also there wasn't enough distance to make an impressive shot.

I was flailing the sword around aimlessly in my MJOLNIR armor, quite a spectacle I assure you, with my helmet on the dresser. My flailing, which I noticed early on, was due to the fact I didn't want to hit anything. But when I was outside I was just fine!

"What part of that do you call good swordsmanship?" asked a miffed Louise.

"Uhg... there's just not enough room in here is all, once I get outside it'll be fine!" I said

"Riiiiiight..."

"Maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe it might be better to show underwear washing?" and she got a gleam in her eye, somehow the horse crop appeared in her hands as well... well two can play at that game! Ta-da! Spontaneously appearing tazer rod!

The tension was broken when someone knocked on the door... I sighed, I'd been waiting for a chance to use this thing...

"Sheesh, who would that be so late at night?"

"Coming..." I went over to open the door, only as soon as I opened it a hooded figure burst in, knocking me on my ass, and shut the door behind him or her... I'm gonna go with a her due to her bust size.

Louise gasped "Who are you!" and I had my magnum out already and pointed it at the intruder.

"Well... it has been a long time... Louise Françoise"

"Your highness!" Exclaimed Louise as the Princess hugged her.

"Oh, its been so long and I've missed you so much!"

"B-but..." Louise noticed I was still holding my magnum at the Princess in shock. "IDIOT! Lower the gun!"

"Wait this is the princess?" I asked and just got a scowl from Louise, I assumed so... naturally I did the first thing that came to mind... while Louise made haste to kneel I did quite the opposite and quickly stood to my feet and snapped a salute. "Ma'am, I'm sorry I miss-took you for an intruder" all the while not releasing my stance.

"You idiot you're supposed to kneel before royalty not try and stand taller than them!"

I heard her but ignored "HEY! Did you hear me!" I kept ignoring her.

"Ma'am... if you want me to stop standing like this... and I'd like to as my arm is getting tired... please just say _at ease_... please..." I asked as politely as I could

"Um... at ease?" said the Princess and I dropped the salute and sighed.

"Yes ma'am!"

"You idiot!" shouted Louise

"No it's fine Louise... but... I'm actually curious about your familiar now... nice to make your acquaintance Mr. Familiar."

"Lt. Alexander Chyton, S362, Noble Team. Noble Six at your service!" I quickly saluted again but didn't hold it that time.

"You have a strange familiar Louise" noted the princess.

"Permission to go sit in the corner over by my gun?" I asked

"Um... sure?" she said hesitantly "But why are you asking?"

I sat down on the straw mattress and began disassembling my gun to clean it, I grabbed a rag from my inventory and started wiping the moving parts. "Sorry for the uptight attitude and well... to you, an unorthodox way of addressing nobility or royalty... but back where I come from that is the closest thing we'd do when addressing officials and the higher-ups. I figured that the same rules applied..." I went on to explain a few things "back home we had to ask for permission when around a higher ranked officer or official depending on the situation and I thought, better safe than sorry..." I put my helmet next to me, a mistake I would regret in a few seconds.

"Please forgive my familiar Your Highness!" Louise pleaded and to smashed her palm into my face causing me to drop my MA5B pieces.

"Hey!" I protested

"SHUT UP!"

"Mmmmaaybeeeehhhh naaaaaawwwws teeeh hime who ashk how yoo guyz knoooo each other*." I asked through my smushed face. (Maybe now is the time to ask how you guys know each other*)

"When we were little girl I was allowed the honor of being the Princesses playmate and closet companion." Replied Louise.

"Louise don't say that, I think of us as child-hood friends!"

"Princess I don't deserve this honor."

"I don't have much time, but I had to see you, you were the only one who truly understood me aside from father... but..."

"I know the rest..." Louise sighed.

"I wish I had more time but I need to make this short... I'm sure we will meet again in the near future, Louise Françoise. I missed you so much" and the Princess hugged Louise again.

"As with me as well... Princess Henrietta..."

They released the hug and the Princess turned to me "Good luck with the exhibition, I think you've summoned up a splendid familiar Louise..." she smiled, she was so cute! "and promise me you'll do your best Mr. Familiar!"

I nodded "Yes Ma'am!"

"On the contrary this is the worst familiar ever!"

"HEY!" I retorted "I'm right here!"

"Well goodbye" and Louise curtseyed slightly while I saluted.

Once she was gone our previous argument erupted again... I bet she could hear it...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

It was the day of the exhibition and I was worried sick, I doubted my familiar would be able to impress the onlookers, despite his match with Guiche and his fight with the monster earlier. I watched the other's familiars go up... Guiche's by far was the most stupid... so hopefully... I wouldn't be the worst (he just lied there with Verdande! That is SO wrong!). finally it was my turn... "Nothing more than a bow, got it!"

He sighed "whatever."

'That stupid dog, doesn't even listen to his master! Eeeerg! I want to just beat the crap outta him but there I doubt he'd let me get away with it... what with his... big scary guns and... Electrical rods... and... and... huge, thick armor... and... eeeerg! Stop thinking like this Louise!' I thought.

He went up and pulled out his sword... idiot! I hoped he had practiced well... but to my surprise he began conversing with his sword. Arguing about the proper use of a sword... I growled, the idiot made me look like a failure... AGAIN!

I ran up to the stage, grabbed his ear and walked off... his reactions was along the lines of "Ow, ow, ow, ow" I let him go and we just walked through one of the fields around the school.

"I told you nothing more than a bow!"

"But everyone was laughing!"

"That's cuz you looked like an idiot!" I shouted

"Maybe that's what I was going for?" he stopped walking and stared up. "W-what is that...?" he pointed up as a shadow passed over us.

I looked up and saw a huge rock and dirt construct! A golem! It stood almost half the height of the main tower in the center of the academy.

"G-g-g-Golem!" I yelped

"Is it bad?" Alexander asked

"Wait look up there! It's Fouquet!" I pointed up at someone standing on the shoulder of the golem, wearing a hood to cover her green hair.

"Fouquet?" Alexander asked

"An infamous thief, she must be trying to break into the vault." I pointed out but apparently Fouquet had seen us...

"A brilliant deduction..." she said sarcastically "but it will be your last! Golem!" the golem thrust out its arm to try and grab me.

"Louise get down!" Alexander shoved me down and the golem grabbed him instead, knocking his rifle out of his free hand while his other hand was pinned in the golem's grasp.

"Louise run!" he shouted

I was trebling... but no one is allowed to beat up my familiar without my permission! I pointed my wand at the golem and began chanting.

"Louise! I said run!"

"Fireball!" I shouted... and nothing happened for a few seconds...

*BOOM*

The side of the tower exploded to my surprise, no fireball appeared...

Fouquet laughed "What part of that was supposed to be a fireball? Hahahaha!" she went quiet as a part of the tower crumbled... "Golem!" the golem smashed a fist into the tower and made a golem fist sized hole... if that helps you picture it... Fouquet jumped into the hole and I looked for something I could use to help Alexander. I found his rifle on the ground... I picked it up.

"Louise! Do you even know how to use that!?"

"I think!" The dreams I'd been having may have rubbed off, it was worth a try, I aimed the gun at the golem. 'ok, this is the trigger, um... these lights must be the ammo... erm... I think that's all I can figure out right now' I thought.

I pulled the trigger and was knocked on my butt, the recoil from that thing was high. I tried again, locking my arms and legs this time and fired at the hand. To my surprise most of the bullets hit and shredded the hand into dust, dropping Alexander... wait... dropping him... he was pretty high up!

Alexander was yelling on the way down but a blur of blue scales saved him from becoming a splotch on the ground. "Tabitha!" I yelped. She and her dragon saved my familiar and were flying around the tower.

Fouquet jumped back out of the tower with a purple case in hand. "Well I think I've overstayed my welcome... don't you?" she said just as the Princess, headmaster Osmond and several students and guards ran over from the exhibition. The golem stepped over the walls and made for the forest near the academy. Some guards pursued while others stayed to check on the treasury, guard the princess and secure the area.

Tabitha landed next to me and Alexander jumped off the dragon and came and stood next to me... I noticed the sun was starting to go down. "That was a really big golem she was controlling! There is no doubt in my mind, she was a triangle-class mage..."

Scorch/Alexander was leaning on one of the walls of the covered walkways and said "Yeah... well considering we all survived and no one got hurt, it's alright!"

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see the princess and her guards approach me. I knelt... "My lady I'm so sorry about all this..." I said

"Raise your head Louise Françoise, this is not your fault..."

"Princess, we must go" said a guard and Henrietta nodded

"I have to go now, I must make a full report of this incident to the palace... I'm sure we will meet again real soon" she smiled at me and headed back to her carriage.

I hoped that they didn't blame the princess for the events that happened today... they had all happened so quickly to boot.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Later that night I had another dream... at this point I'd been getting used to them.

I stood on a ridge at night, watching a small purple flying beetle fly nearly silently across the sky, only a rock's throw away from me. There was a light shining from the nose of it and it made a _weer_ sound as it flew. It flew away...

"Ok, we're clear... move up Six." Said a voice from my helmet... Jun...

The body which wasn't my own moved up along a narrow path and I spotted a tall imposing blue figure, an Elite... only a minor by the looks of it...

"Elite! Take him out... quietly..." said Jun.

The dream flashed in static a bit... and I didn't move... then I realised it was because I was in control... I moved my hands, I moved my legs... I moved my hands... I was supposed to kill it! I looked down... the body of my familiar had changed... I put my hands on my sides and felt a nice hourglass shape to it... I momentarily removed my helmet to look in the reflective visor and saw myself! My pink hair had been cut to a bob which made me sad... I put the helmet on and looked myself over again, I had boobs! I mean bigger ones almost the size of my second eldest sister! And a nice shape! Even if it was a dream, albeit a very life like one, I was happy... then I remembered the Elite I had to kill.

"Six! What's taking so long! We aint got all day"

I snuck forward and pulled out my knife and slit the Elite's throat... it was... easier then I had expected...

After that the little guys who had been sleeping nearby, called Grunts woke up and ran around in a panic that their leader was dead... Jun dropped down from a ridge and shot them.

"Been watching you Six, now let's get moving."

I nodded and the dream just became repetitive over a while... we just blasted aliens after aliens with this long ranged gun called a Sniper Rifle... until we came across a rundown farm of some sort...

"You hear that Six?" Jun asked "Magnums... security sidearm, standard issue..." we rounded a corner "ah! Looks like the local militia decided to stick around!"

We fended off wave after wave of aliens, trying to protect the farmers... who turned out to be weapons smugglers... when Jun learned of this he wasn't mad...

"You know most of this is stolen UNSC property?"

"What? Are you gonna arrest me?" asked the smuggler

"No..." replied Jun then said in a smug tone "I'm going to steal it back" I liked his way of thinking...

After more waves of aliens we went down a dry river bed towards a power station... it had a large blue pulsing tower nearby it.

"Looks like Intel was right Kat" said Jun, I guess he was using a form of communication I couldn't see. "Are these pylons what are causing the black zone?"

"Affirmative." Said Kat

"Roger that, consider it gone."

"Negative! Plant charges in an inconspicuous location then continue recon."

"Roger that."

After taking out more aliens and continuing down a trail with EVEN MORE ALIENS... god I think I know why Scorch hates aliens so much now... we found large glowing pit... Jun pulled out his sinper again.

"Kat you seeing this?"

"Roger, Covenant strike force is confirmed..."

Jun sighed in disbelieve "Strike force my ass... it's an invading army!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Ok so I kind did the Reach scene off by heart cuz I couldn't find the script for that level... (I just went and played it so... yeah...**

**Anyways I gotta cut the outro short, if you liked why not fav, and follow, and if you got any advice, comments, or the likes then drop me a review, it would help me out allot, keeps me motivated you know? Anyways WTYL guys WTYL! :D**


	6. The Staff of destruction?

**Ok so, just a heads up, there **_**will **_**be "lemons" later on in the story, not necessarily in this chapter or the next and so forth but there will be one every now and then. Chapters which have lems in them I will put up a warning like so: **

**-THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH HIGHLY MATURE SUBJECT MATTER, READER DISCRESION IS ADVISED-**

**(But don't worry that was just an example, I'm not really warning you right now)**

**Then once you read down enough eventually you will get another warning like so:**

**-THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH(S) ARE DEALING WITH SEX/BORDERLINE SEX, SKIP, OR READ WITH CAUTION-**

**To skip a lem or disturbing scene, keep scrolling down till you see:**

**-ALL CLEAR- XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Thank you.**

**PS: The last chapter was a bit rushed so I'm going to start taking maybe an extra day and a half to work on chapters in order to give me some breathing room (I'm not even kidding, in order to meet the chapter a day quota I was originally going for, I had to rush the Halo: Reach dream scene otherwise I wouldn't have the opportunity to put it out that day.**

**PPS: Also you may have noticed the POV switches around sometimes, there are no main characters of whom will be switched to, characters viewed from so far are only Louise, Scorch/Alexander/Noble 6 and Siesta... that being said it's not restricted to them, others like Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Tiffanina, etc... anyways...**

**On with the fiction!**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"Say ahhhhh!" Said Kirche when we were at study hall, to my familiar... I've noticed that he's been softening up to Kirche lately... I don't like it...

"It's pretty good huh?"

"Yeah, this is, what is it?" Said Scorch with a mouthful of fruit.

"Its a specialty of Germania..." Said Kirche, I clenched my fist and stood up.

"HEY! Don't feed someone else's familiar!" I grabbed Scorch by the shirt of his green soldier's armor, knocking his, as he called it, marine helmet off his head along with his eye piece and whacked his face against the desk. Apparently that caused enough trauma to prevent him from fighting back, or knocked the wind out of him I dunno...

"Oh its alright, I mean we all get bored when we're stuck in study hall right? this whole thief thing is giving them no time to even hold classes!" Complained Kirche and she stood up "They're making it such a big deal, in fact I heard a rumor that they're gonna try and blame the whole thing on Princess Henrietta."

"What?" I asked and stopped kicking Scorch, I'd gotten used to calling him by his nickname... I don't think he deserved to be called by real name by me quite yet!

"I heard that Fouquet was able to sneak in because they pulled what few guards they had off the vault to help guard the princess. On top of that I heard that Princess Henrietta decided to visit the institute despise all objections from her advisors." Explained Kirche

The door at the front of the class room opened and Mr. Colbert came in "Ms. Louise! And Ms. Tabitha! Come to the principal's office immediately."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We all stood in the principal/headmaster's office surrounded by instructors. Headmaster Osmond was at the front center of them all addressing us. I glance to my side and saw Kirche... "Hey! Why are you here?" I hissed

"I don't know, it sounded like fun..." she replied, the smartass she is...

"After questioning several witnesses around town, we have gained credible information on the whereabouts of a suspicious shadow we have seen entering and leaving a deserted shack deep in the woods this morning" said Ms. Longueville, Mr. Osmond's green haired secretary.

"Very speedy work Ms. Longueville, you ought to be commended..." said Mr. Osmond

"From those testimonies I attempted to sketch out a picture of the shadow." She pulled out a scroll of paper and handed it to Osmond.

"hmm? Hmmmmmmm..." he turned the paper around and showed us "What do you think?" he asked us.

I recognized the drawing perfectly "This is Fouquet! I have no doubt about it!"

There was tension in the air after I said that... then Mr. Colbert spoke "We must report this to the palace at once I send a request along with it. We'll ask the royal guards to go after her."

Osmond shook his head "If we wait for those Burocrats to actually take their job seriously and make a decision Fouquet will get away!" I glanced back at Scorch who had scoffed and was now grinning and shaking his head, I take it he knew that feeling well... he muttered something about red tape... odd...

"We must retrieve the staff of destruction, the item that was stolen, and capture Fouquet ourselves if we're to regain the honor that was tarnished by that thief..." Osmond looked out at everyone. "Now raise your staff if you're up to the challenge." There was a bit of nervous muttering going on and no one was standing up... "What's this? Are there none among you who wish to raise their fame by capturing Fouquet?" more murmuring and awkward conversation...

*chk-chk* I heard the unmistakable sound, one I'd heard in my dreams all too often, an assault rifle being locked and loaded, I looked behind me and saw Scorch had raised his Rifle for the task.

"I'll do it, I'll go alone if I have to... beats sitting around here all day."

'Why that...! If he's gonna go then that means I have to! But he didn't even consult his master! Errrrg... may as well play this off...' I thought "Then I'll go too, it would be wrong to let my familiar go alone!"

Everyone gasped, I'd wondered why they didn't gasp when Scorch raised his gun but I had my suspicions...

"I will go too..." Said Kirche

"Zerpes?"

"Well, I can't afford to lose to a Valliere can I?"

"Why don't you just-" I got cut off

"Tabitha?" I looked over and saw Tabitha had raised her staff. "You don't have to come, this is a problem between both of us!"

"I'm worried about both of you." Tabitha Replied.

We both said our thanks...

"Hmhm... well... I'll leave it to the three of you then." Said Osmond "These two have witnessed what Fouquet can do, on top of that Ms. Tabitha here is a Chevalier knight! So talented for one so young!"

"A knight?!" I exclaimed

"Is this true Tabitha?" asked Kirche and Tabitha nodded.

Osmond continued "Ms. Zerpes comes from an established military family in Germania, very powerful... and I'm also told that her flame magic is of the very best quality!" Osmond turned to me. "And uh... Ms. Valliere is the daughter of the well regarded Valliere family, which has had several excellent mages in the past and... Uh... erm... well..." I noticed his stuttering, c'mon old man... spit it out already! "Uh... she has a very bright future... and uh... AH YES! That's right!" he beamed "I hear that her familiar is an excellent fighter capable of taking on Guiche de Gramont and defeating the monster which attacked the school a few days ago..." I was stunned... not only did Osmond not actually commend me he gave more praise to my familiar... EEEEERRRRRRHHHH...

"That's right! He used the legendary Gan- erk *cough*"

"Then it's settled" Said Mr. Osmond "You four shall go and retrieve the staff and bring Fouquet to justice!"

"Excuse me Mr. Osmond, I would like offer my service to the group, please let me join as their guide." Asked Ms. Longueville.

"That's a good idea Ms. Longeuville, you shall accompany them."

"I already planned everything out!" she beamed, after she said that I swear I heard Scorch mumble something suspicious but I passed it off as another of his ungrateful sighs...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"I don't get it... if Fouquet is a mage, wouldn't that make her a noble? Why would a noble resort to petty crime?" I asked

Ms. Longueville turned to us, we were all riding a wagon to the supposed location of the shack. "You see just because some of us are nobles doesn't mean that we all are pure in intent... then there are the fallen nobles... nobles who have lost their status through some various act or deed deemed punishable for specific acts and what not. For example I once had noble status but it was stripped away..."

"Really? But aren't you Mr. Osmond's secretary?" asked Louise

"Mr. Osmond isn't exactly picky about whether he hires peasants or nobles"

"Soo..." Kirche started and leaned closer to Ms. Longueville "What's the story behind your loss of nobility?"

"Zerpes!" Louise yelped "That's not the kind of question to go about asking people just out of the blue!"

"Soooorry, I'm just trying to make idle chit-chat out of boredom..."

"Then if you're so bored maybe you should have stayed back at the academy?!" Shot Louise

"No way" she sat down next to me and I found myself sandwiched between Louise and Kirche... making a volatile and highly explosive concoction, if not handled with care... "Besides I'm only here to protect my darling..." she said and pressed her chest into my arm... I couldn't feel much of it due to the MJOLNIR armor however. My helmet was on my lap and Kirche held up that piece of junk gold sword again... "Here, you forgot the sword I got you."

"I said I don't want it, I've already got one..."

"But this one is so shiny compared to that rusty one." She pointed out.

"Yeah, it's also much duller, weaker and heavier then my current one... if I take it, all I'll be doing is melting it down for hollow point bullets and gold coins..."

"I don't care!"

"Fine..." I took the sword, then bent over towards Louise who was steaming and whispered "You know this one is a piece of crap right? I honestly prefer Derf waaaaay better." To which she just rolled her eyes... damn this girl was hard to please... considering she's lucky that I didn't bash her brains in after the event at study hall... could it be... that... I'm becoming docile?

...

...

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAHAAAHAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAA... Haaaaaaa...

NAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Is this girl driving me crazy? Insane?

...

YYYYYUP!

Eventually we came to the location, an old run down coal burning shack in the woods... this place just screamed trap... I held my hand up and slowly pushed back towards my group who were behind a bush.

"What?" whispered Louise

Oh right, they probably don't understand hand signals... "Just wait there for a sec..." I snuck up next to the shack and took a peak through a broken window. No one in sight... and it was pretty small, no hiding places.

"All clear" I said in a normal voice and motioned the universal _come here_ hand wave.

Tabitha cast a strange blue wave in front of the door... "No traps" she said. Well I still wasn't going to take any chances... I checked my inventory... perfect... the M90 MKI Shotgun... I think that was the name...

"Wait, I'll go in first" I said and took the shotgun and aimed it at the top left corner of the door, fired, then did the same with the lower left... and kicked the door in and it fell over. "Breaching!" I rolled in doing a 360 with my MA5B. "All clear"

"You don't have to make a big show of it all" Said Louise... "And um... I think I'll just stay out here..."

"Good, guard this area, yell if you see anything." I replied.

Together me, Kirche and Tabitha all looked around the house, while looking at a chest I made the mistake of dusting it off, without my helmet on, it being at my side under my arm.

"*Ah-CHOOO!*" I sneezed "Damnit, someone needs to learn to dust... but it doesn't look like there is anything here..." me and Kirche made for the exit, then Tabitha said in her usual, emotionless tone.

"Staff of destruction."

"Huh?" Me and Kirche turned around and saw Tabitha holding a purple case... "Ok then" I said "We've got the staff... but do we even know if it's in there?"

"Why don't we take a look?" suggested Kirche, I shrugged and reached towards the box only to be interrupted...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Louise screamed from outside.

"Damnit! What is it!?" I grabbed my rifle and was about to step out the door when the roof of the shack was torn off. The golem we had fought earlier at the school was here... and he didn't look happy.

Tabitha chanted something and hit the golem with an air spell like a tornado but it didn't leave a scratch... next Kirche used an inferno to attack to golem, also doing nothing more then pissing it off.

Tabitha whistled for her familiar, an air dragon to pick us up. "Where is Louise?" I asked then heard an explosion from outside and saw Louise trying to attack the golem.

"Louise!" I shouted "Run!

"I can't run! I'm a noble! A true noble never shows her back to the enemy! To do so would dishonor our name!"

I saw another hand coming down at her and I sprinted as fast as I could, slamming into her, knocking her over just as the golem's hand crashed into the position we had just been in.

"Scorch! Get away! I won't retreat!" then I slapped her lightly, but hard enough to hurt...

"So what if your honor is at stake! So what if your nobility! Are you telling me you're going to throw your life away all because of a title that in reality doesn't mean a thing! Snap out of it!"

Louise was silent for a while... "B-but... if I run from this battle it'll be just another failure! I'll still be a zero!" she was crying "People always called me zero and made fun of me for my inability to cast magic, if I run from this it'll be another excuse for people to make fun of me."

I sighed and shook my head and lifted her over my shoulder just as the golem tried to hit us again. I saw Tabitha's dragon land nearby. "Take her and get out of here... I'll deal with the golem!" Tabitha nodded and they took off.

"You don't hurt her you understand! You damn piece of dirt!" I drew Derflinger from my side, he didn't _fit_ into my Nanite-transformer, since he said that; "I'm a sword with a soul, if you put me in there then technically the sword is being temporarily destroyed, hence you'd be putting an incompatible item in there! So it won't even let you put it in!"

I guess that made sense, but why I didn't use my guns or energy sword I'm not sure... but I did wield Derf in only one hand, he was easy enough to use with one hand and I'd gotten used to the weight and balance of him. In the other hand I had my magnum, a ranged and melee combination, a winning combination if you ask me...

"Bring it on you damned rock!" I jumped and slashed at its legs, surprisingly I managed to cleave them off... apparently this rock wasn't as strong as it looked... I jumped around taking off limbs and making giant craters in it. But whenever it would take damage some of the ground would fly up and repair or replace what was missing... with that happening, this battle could go on indefinitely.

"Damnit this is just gonna go on and on and on! I need something with more firepower!"

"Scorch!" I looked up and saw Louise floating down with the case with the Staff of Destruction in it... she opened the case and took out the... staff? Once she touched the ground she started swinging the _staff _trying to cast a spell "W-why isn't it working!?" I ran over to Louise.

"Louise give it to me, that's not a staff give it here, you got aim it... and fire!" I took the _staff_ aimed it at the golem and pulled the trigger and a projectile shot out the end of it, flew into the golem and exploded, causing the golem to fall to pieces... I guess all that was needed was a good old 40mm explosive... could have used a grenade in hindsight I guess...

I didn't notice it soon enough but Kirche and Tabitha had landed and Kirche knocked me over and stuck her chest in my face. "Aww, my darling cast cast magic but he's just a peasant I'm so proud!"

"Hey, where is Ms. Longueville?" asked Louise after steaming for a bit...

When Kirche had bumped into me I dropped the _staff _and it was on the ground near Louise... it was then picked up by Ms. Longueville...

"Well, that's a job well done kids... and I should thank you, you showed me how to use this... and it took down my golem quick enough hmmm?" she said

"Fouquet?" I guessed, to which she nodded "I should have known..." I got up and reached for my magnum which was also on the ground.

"Don't move!" Fouquet said and aimed the _staff _at us. "All I needed was to learn how to use the staff, I was hoping that they'd send instructors with us but alas, then I thought about the new familiar... I mean if it comes from Gandálfr... it has to be correct..."

"Gandalfr?" everyone muttered...

"Well, I'd stolen the staff originally but I ran into a hitch when I didn't know how to use it, so I'd have Gandalfr show me... now then, I think it's time to say goodbye"

"Are you done monologueing?" I asked

"Yes... now... goodbye" she pulled the trigger *click* "what!?" *click, click, click* "Why isn't it working!? OOOUUUUFF!" I rifle butted her in the gut, then head butted her to the ground, thank the helmet!

"Unless you have the ammo to reload it with, it's useless... and it's not a staff... is a grenade launcher, the M319 IGL, firing a 40mm grenade, secondary function will add an EMP effect... it came from my world..."

All the girls were looking at me, Louise and Kirche were looking at me all dreamy eyes... Kirche I understood why, but Louise... well... it was... different than the usual treatment I got.

"Well, let's bring this... _staff _back and get Fouquet a personal jail cell huh?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"We have locked up Fouquet in the palace prison, and the Staff of Destruction has be once again safly secured in the vault... good job... you are all guests of honor for tonight's banquet." Said Osmond as he rewarded us... or more like the girls... for their or more like MY hard work... not that I care to be in the spot light, it's just nice to get some proper recognition is all...

"Well, that's to be expected" said Kirche who didn't seem the least bit grateful... stuck up nobles... *sigh*

"The palace thinks very highly of your conduct, and I'm certain a reward from them will be headed to the three of you shortly..."

"A reward from the palace!? Really?" asked Kirche

"Wait you said three of us... does that mean Scorch won't be included? Louise asked with concern

"Unfortunately, since he is not a nobleman... you are correct..." confirmed Osmond.

"Oh.. I see..."

"I don't mind, but Mr. Osmond, if you don't mind I'd like to ask you something..." I said and Osmond nodded. The girls left and headed to get ready for the banquet.

Once they were gone completely "I'm not from this world, I was summoned here by Louise during the summoning ritual about a week or more ago."

"Not from this world!?" Exclaimed Colbert "I guess it was to be expected however..."

"Yes, and the staff of destruction is actually a weapon from my world! Where did you get it?"

"The staff of destruction was a memento from a rather curious man" Osmond got a faraway look in his eyes "It's hard to believe it's already been thirty years... he saved my life that day and was dressed in a peculiar outfit... that man had suffered terrible wounds in battle... I rushed him back to the institute, but alas..."

"He passed away?"

"Yes... with him he carried two staves of destruction, I buried the one he used to save me along with is body in the coffin we buried him in, that one was larger... the second one which was smaller I geve to the palace so that it could be kept safe from dangerous hands..." explained Osmond.

"To think that such a story existed behind the staff of destruction..." commented Mr. Colbert.

"Damnit!" I cursed "I was hoping I'd be able to learn of a way home, or at least get some answers! But all this has lead to is more questions!" I stomped my foot in frustration.

"W-well, if it's any consolation..." said Colbert "That monster you killed, I took the body in to do some research and I found a strange residue on the body... I was able to collect it and form it into a liquid substance. Here is the vial I put it in..." he handed me a vial filled with black liquid.

I sniffed the vial "Uuugh... I recognize this smell..." the fluid has a faint glow to it, indicating radiation... "This... this is the fuel from a slipspace drive!"

"Slipspace?" asked Colbert

"If this is really slipspace fuel... then... that means that this place isn't another dimension... rather... another solar system yet to be discovered by the UNSC! That means, the Brute, or the monster I killed, got here with a ship! If I found his ship, I might be able to return home!" then my thoughts drifted to negativity... what if the slipspace engine was broken, it would be a loooong cryosleep... or maybe the ship wasn't even in working condition at all! But it was worth a look. "Mr. Colbert" I asked "Can you judge how long this monster was on the move, how long was he walking for?"

"Judging by the state of its body, I would say about only half an hour of walking since it's last rest."

"So freshly rested... that means either he's been traveling for a long time and took rests... or his ship isn't far away... Mr. Colbert, can you meet me at the stables in the evening?"

"Of course Alexander, for what reason?"

"We're gonna do a little research expedition..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I was at the banquet as a normal guest... not that I cared, I still wore my grey UNSC naval officer's uniform, the most noble looking of my attire. Again... I didn't wear the hat...

"Might I have this dance?" I heard behind me and saw one of the students offer Louise a dance, which she declined and walked towards me.

"If you're going to ask me to dance I'm going to have to decline..." I said

She looked shocked, both at the fact that I called her actions out, and that I'd rejected her.

"Why not? As my familia-"

"Look, I'd love to ok, but one, I can't dance for shit... second... I just got a lead about that monster I killed a while back... if my theory is correct then I might be able to get home... if not... then at least i'll have proved a theory correct..." I hit a button on my Tacpad and the green light engulfed me changing to my MJOLNIR armor. "I'll be back... see ya" I jumped off the balcony I was standing on and made towards the stables where I was meeting Mr. Colbert. Once I'd gotten to the stables I found Mr. Colbert and we made our way out on foot. Colbert had cast a spell so he could track the Brute's last known traveling path.

We followed the glowing blue trail to the edge of the forest near the academy... "The trail goes into the forest... should we follow it?"

I drew my DMR and turned on my helmet flashlight "Let's go"

We entered the woods and followed the path until I heard voices... I could understand them, but from the confused look on Colbert's face he didn't. "Urgh... I'm starving... we've had nothing to eat here except for deer, this bland flesh is nothing compared to the real hunt..." said a harsh voice.

"Why don't we eat one of the little ones? Huh?" said another followed with a high pitched yelp

"No! Master, me good, me good" it said

"No! Those are our troops... what's more they taste horrible..."

"True..."

I snuck over to a tree nearby the voices... there was a fire pit so I assumed they were nearby... I peeked around the tree, telling Colbert to stay hidden. What I saw shocked me...

Next to the fire was two Brutes and three grunts, but that wasn't what shocked me the most... next to the was a fully operational Type-52 Troop Carrier... also known as: The Phantom Gunship, since it was here with no extra ships, it must have been a scaled up version with a slipspace drive!

"Ok, Mr. Colbert" I whispered "I want to get a closer look at that ship, but we need to take out those Covies"

"Covies? Ship? Do you mean that sleeping metal dragon?"

"Those aliens..." I pointed at the Covenant troops and I noticed reluctance in his eyes... he didn't fool me, this man had killed before, but I bet he didn't want to do so again. "These guys aren't humans! They are monsters and must be treated like monsters! They kill and maim and slaughter mindlessly, if we don't take them out, whole communities will be at risk, so please Mr. Colbert... don't hold back."

"Right..." he nodded reluctantly...

I aimed my DMR at one of the brutes and shot him in the head, these brutes didn't have power armor so it was easy to kill them, once they first was down I moved onto the next. But he was already up and moving for cover. Mr. Colbert cast a fire spell and the Brute was engulfed in flames... the grunts well... I don't even need to explain what happened to them... but in short, they died quickly and without any sort of dignity... cowards...

I jumped inside the ship and looked around... I confirmed my worries... I jumped back out.

"Just as I thought... the slipspace engine is leaking... there is no way to repair it and a ship this size wont have any cryotubes... it would be better to destroy it."

"Destroy!? But this could be valuable research material!" Exclaimed Colbert.

"Yeah? Well Covie can track the locations of their ships... destroying it might prevent them from zeroing in on the location of the ship... and attacking your world... what's more is from the looks of it they crash landed here, I doubt they had meant to come here at all..." I planted a C4 plastic explosive on the remains of the slipspace drive... this was a small one by comparison to the ones on big ships so the resulting explosion wouldn't destroy the whole forest... still you don't wanna be around when the thing goes off... I also didn't have anything else to work with the destroy it.

"Mr. Colbert! We need to run!" I said and I grabbed his hand and we sprinted for the edge of the forest... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... BOOM! I heard the explosion and I bet it would be heard for many many kilometers... that was the end of that... now I had to get back to the academy and prepare for yet another day of labour in the shadow of my small, and obnoxious master... I only hoped that the Covenant didn't get wind of this group's little misadventure...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Sorry for the shorter chapters but like I said I'm going to start taking more time to work on these chapters as I've been feeling rushed to put more out. Around the end of season 1 there will be a plot twist, albeit a small one, it will amount to something... don't worry.**

**If you liked the fic, please, add it to your faves and maybe follow it if you're interested enough. Then since you've got the time to read this, why not drop me a review telling me what you liked, didn't like, thought sucked, or with helpful advice and tips... it helps me allot to stay motivated on this fic. **

**Thanks, WTYL guys! Rogue out! :D**


	7. Tres-Bien!

**Can't think of any announcements for this chapter/episode... 'cept that the future episodes/chapters will be waaaaay better in terms of plot twists and what not...**

**Oh yes here is one thing I want to say... thank you...**

**You guys have made as of morning of April 18th, 2013, the order of balance: Spartan of Zero, my number one most viewed fic... with most of my other fics in the ten thousands (or some at least), that is a great feat... but here's the thing... for you guys... it took... wait for it... less than five days... to reach where the rest of my fics have taken years to reach... so... for what it's worth... thank you guys. You guys are the best :D *trying not to cry... man up boy!* *fails* *cries* thanks guys so much :DDD you guys are awesome!**

**PS: this chapter might be a bit shorter than the other ones... might be...**

**PPS: Scratch that, I do have announcements ehehe... and anyways sorry for not uploading over the weekend but weekends are my "No update" days just "Work" so that I can make a barrier between work loads... so, there will be no updates (or less likely to be) on Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays and any days where school is not in session... for example it was a long weekend the one before I uploaded this. I'll be sure to announce any extended "Update free" days before hand from now on.**

**PPPS: Also, I haven't been feeling well lately, and when I don't feel well, I'm uncreative and I tend not to write, so I _might _not update at the next planned update-date (tomorrow or the day after)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Me and Louise were in the palace standing before Princess Henrietta, Louise constantly stood slightly bowed while I on the other hand stood at attention the whole time.

"Congradulations and a job well done for capturing the thief who had the whole palace up in arms Louise Françoise!" said the princess...

"Your highness I do not deserve th title of chevalier"

"Didn't I just tell you what feat you accomplished? If you don't deserve to be a Chevalier, then I don't deserve to be princess..."

"Princess, that means so much..."

"And I give you my thanks as well, trustworthy familiar" The princess said to me, I grinned and left my stance, screw it, I didn't want to stand tall anyways...

"Oh, uh... ah... ahah..." I stuttered, she was very pretty... for royalty that is...

"I trust that you will continue to take good care of my friend Louise." She held out one of her dainty hands... what the hell was she doing? Wanting a dance? This wasn't the best of settings for sure... then Louise stepped in front of me.

"Your highness stop! You mustn't offer your hand to a familiar like him!" Louise exclaimed... I thought 'hand'? What, does she want to marry me? I didn't realize how much of an idiot I was being at that time... but... now that I look back at it...

"To protect you in my eyes is the same as it is to swear loyal to me, I must reward this loyalty somehow." Slowly Louise stood out of the way.

"Someone want to explain what it is I'm supposed to do now?" I said

Louise bent into my ear "You idiot, when the princess offers you her hand you're supposed to kiss her."

"W-w-what! B-but..." I lowered my voice "Well... I don't see anything wrong with it... so... I guess..."

Then I did the smartest thing I've ever done... I kissed royalty... after taking her hand... I kissed her... yeah but here is where it gets awkward... see I didn't understand what Louise meant when she said to kiss the princess... so... well... I ended up kissing her on the lips... to which she fainted... and Louise had a freak out... something along the lines like this.

"Y-y-y-you just... YOUR NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT TO ROYALTY! You... you DOG!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"You're highness, I'm really sorry about this, you dog! Apologize to her now!" Louise yelled at me while trying to beat me up... I'd gotten sick of her whipage so time to give her a taste of her own medicine...

"AH-ZAZAZZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZZZAZZZZZZ" *flump* Louise fell on the ground twitching after I scored a jab to her gut with my tazer.

"You know, if you that wouldn't have happened if you had been more specific... but for what it's worth I deeply apologize... ma'am..."

The princess who had just been watching our fight "I-it's not a big deal... I mean you deserved a reward... and well..." I could hear the hollowness in her voice... damned bitch... I mentally rolled my eyes... "Anyways I have a favor to ask of you..."

Louise who was just recovering from her... _shock_... (haha, I'm so funny) said "Yes, you highness anything! If you order us to die I will jump out this window!" was that answer... _shocking..._? No not really... ahahahaha...

"Suit yourself, have fun flailing your arms for a few seconds before SPLAT!" I said

"I'd like you guys to take some time to stay in the town here for a while."

"the town?" we asked

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Louise and I stepped out of a clothing store after she got some more... semi-peasant looking clothes... honestly I didn't notice any difference... me on the other hand was wearing a grey hoodie and blue jeans... probably not the most convincing peasant attire in this world but I almost never got to wear civilian casual wear... felt good...

"It's so dull..." said Louise when we came out of a clothing store.

"But Louise, your the one who said we needed to get new clothes so we could blend in with the common man..."

"I just don't understand why we can't get something more fashionable..." I was a bit miffed at the girl's stubbornness... she had a perfectly fine outfit... then again that's coming from me so my opinion probably didn't matter much.

"Do you even remember what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Of course I do!"

I remembered the princess giving us a permit, saying she wanted us to do some spy work, as some of the peasants had been rumored to have been getting treated poorly by the nobles... figured... but after the events of Count Mott, she no longer believed them as simply rumors...

However knowing her noble upbringing I doubted it would be as easy as I thought it was gonig to be... then I was proven right...

"First up is a horse..."

"A horse!?" I exclaimed "First off, is a horse necessary? No its not! Plus I could just warp my Mongoose over here its sitting at the academy!"

She even wanted to stay at en expensive inn, 200 Ecu a night was what the innkeeper had said...

"We don't have nearly enough money" said Louise...

"You know we could just stay at a cheaper inn... I saw one that only charged 50 earlier..."

"No I can't stay at a cheap inn! It-"

I cut her off "I figured... this job really isn't cut out for someone of noble birth..."

"Shut up! Then I'll just have to do this my way!" and she stormed off "Don't follow me!"

I wasn't worried so I didn't follow her, but at the same time... I was worried sick... thankfully I still had that sword that Kirche had given me earlier... after a bit of sales pitching... which I managed surprisingly well... I managed to sell the sword for a third its original price to some passing noble... at 1,000 Ecu... but I wasn't going to tell Louise that... I'd see how she'd used the money we currently had... if she used it poorly I wouldn't tell her... if she used it wisely... I still wouldn't tell her! What? This is the only money of this world I've got, I wanna make it last...

It became dusk and the sun was going down... I came to the town center and saw Louise sitting at a bench around the fountain...

"What!? You lost all the money at the casino!?" I exclaimed, and I only thought that kinda luck happened at New Vegas... what's more I wasn't aware she was even in the gambling age or they even had casinos here... "This is why I can't leave you along for more than an hour or two... Oh sister of mine"

"What are you talking about!?" she demanded

"Oh you and me... our relationship resembles that of the stereotypical brother-sister relationship... always fighting but looking out for each other... as you know... I... never had any family..."

Louise seemed to soften up a little, I was still mad at her though... but I could I be mad at that face... then I remembered what lay under that face and mentally scoffed.

"I'm trying to think of how we can get more money!"

"We don't really have a choice but to head back up and ask the princess for more money..."

"I will not do that! The princess is counting on us and asked this of us as a favor... and we can't just feed off her!"

"You seemed to be doing a fine enough job of that at the casino..."

"Shut up!" ah... there is the old bickering I'm used to... wow... it's kinda sad I'm already saying that at this point...

"You wanted to stay at an expensive inn, you wanted to get a horse... you knew the stakes and responsibilities yet you still blew it!"

"I needed those... you wouldn't understand!"

"Rrrrrriiiight... cuz finding a nice place to sleep beats food and drink any day right...?" I checked my Tacpad only to find it wasn't there... oh right... I'd left it with my armor back at the palace... yet I still had the Nanite-Transformer as an amulet around my neck... so close... yet so far away. "I'm so hungry..." I hadn't eaten since dinner last night...

"Trei-bein!" said a shrill voice... I looked over to see that most disturbing sight I've ever seen... some barrel chested man who wore what I swear was a leotard and short shorts with a shit load of lipstick on... if this... man... made me want to shrink away in terror... then either something about me was wrong at the moment... or this guy was a walking freak show... I honestly don't know which one is more likely.

"It sounds like you two are in a bit of a predicament and as you can see I am no one suspicious at all!" he/her/it said...

"Actually from the looks of it I'd say quite the opposite..." *Sweat*

"My name is Scarron and I run a delightful little tavern just down the road..."

"Tavern!?"

"yes would you like me to set you up with one of our quaint little rooms?"

"Scorch!" Louise yelped

"But then again, I'd have on little condition first..." said Scarron...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I was stunned at what I saw... this place was a tavern sure, but it was also a borderline strip club... I had to raid one back during the Human-Covenant war and I'd seen posters that were up during the time the place had been opened... so I only could relate what I saw to those pictures...

There were girls everywhere... all wearing skimpy maid outfits... due to my re-ignited interest in girls... I was in heavaaaaan... or the atheist's equivalent... anyways... I mean, if you can ignore the burly cross-dresser who ran the place.

After Louise was introduced as _the girl who ran away from her father because he was going to sell his daughter to pay off his gambling debts... _which, in all honesty wasn't far from the truth... I snickered... then I heard someone call me from the kitchen.

"Hey new guy! Come over here and help, we're about to open the place up!"

"Coming..." I ran over and helped the girl who called for me with the dishes, she had a fairly typical (or more like stereotypical) tavern dress on and had long black hair and dark eyes...

"You have a very cute little sister..." she commented

"Yeah... thanks..." I said and rolled my sleeves up... which honestly was probably the most about of skin I'd shown off since I'd gotten to this world... even so it was enough to make the girl besides me quiver... whether it was in fear or admiration I don't know... it was only my forearms but even so, my whole body was ripped... I don't want to boast but that's just how we Spartans are built... and these weren't your average body builder muscles... no these were all built from training, augmentations, and beating aliens to a bloody pulp. Now back to the cheery inn...

"My name's Jessica" said the girl "What's yours?"

"Alexander..." I said "My sister nicknamed me Scorch after an incident with a match and some alcohol..." I wanted to explain why Louise might call me that at some points ahead of time.

"Alexander huh? Nice name..."

"Thanks."

"Just ask me if there is anything you want to know about this place ok?"

"Sure, thanks haha..."

After a while of cleaning, Scarron announced some sort of tip contest and the winner got to wear some special outfit... I wasn't really paying any attention... besides that was Louise's department...

**Not much later...**

Louise pulled a noble act... and no I don't mean heroic or anything like that... I mean she got up in someone's face even though we were supposed to keep our cover. She ended up getting sent up to grab a cloth... it was going to be an interesting night...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me!" Louise bellowed... "Why do I, the daughter of a duke, have to be forced to do suc-"

"Calm down..." I said "For the time being we've got food, shelter, water and to top it off we're making some money, so stop complaining! It's only for a while remember!"

"Food and water I understand, but shelter!? What this walk-in broom closet!?"

Ok, so maybe the attic was a little dusty... but seriously, like I said earlier on my first night in this magical fucked up world... I've had worse...

"Besides Scarron said that allot of his customers are nobles, so we'd be going in for a triple kill... just one more and I'd get an overkill..."

"Wha-?"

"nothing..."

"but that's easy for you to say, you get to stay in the back and have fun with that girl!"

"Girl? You mean Jessica? Not like it matters anyways, besides... can you see me... wearing one of those... maid outfits... I shudder at the thought..." the comment managed to get Louise to snicker a little bit. "So cheer up, we'll bust a noble for some shit and then be done with it!"

"But I don't get it, how can you adapt to things like this so quickly?"

"How could I not is the question, back where I came from, it was adapt or die... as you can see, the situation here at the moment isn't that serious, but the training of which drilled that ideology in my head kina helps in this situation..."

"That was deep..."

"Thank you..." and it was the weird conversational exchanges like this that made me think of Louise as an annoying little sister... "Besides... this isn't much different then how I'm normally treated..." then I zoned out and went to sleep... then was woken up by Louise screaming...

"Whhhaaaaat?!" I exclaimed and looked up to see some bats flying around her head... they went back up to the rafters and seemed to snicker at her while she shook... Damnit, they were just bats!

I sighed and pulled out my magnum (which was the only weapon I had on me at the time), stuck on a silencer. *Pew pew pew* three dead bats... I went, grabbed the corpses and chucked them out the window.

"Now shut up and go to sleep!" I sighed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Well... the next day went... well... erm... about as expected... involving a few broken bottles and spilled drinks... courtesy of Louise and a few customers who couldn't keep their mouths shut... I pity them... in the end however Scarron send Louise to the sidelines to observe, so with not much going on I started to talk to Jessica... turns out she was Scarron daughter... Scarron... daughter... not two words I would have thought I'd hear in the same sentence...

"Yeah, that's right, I'm in charge of everything that goes on around the tavern..." said Jessica... who went back to cleaning the dishes.

'to think someone like her... could be related to someone with... uuuugh... It's inconceivable!' I thought.

We started talking again about some other topic I'd rather not bring up... when...

*Wa-bam* *Flump*

"Owww..." I shook my head, waking up in a bed... a normal bed... "What happened?"

"Are you ok? You passed out cold when a flying bottle of wine hit you in the head..." said Jessica who was sitting at the foot of the bed...

"A bottle? Really? I'd assume that it was a drunk... but..." I sighed "Louise?"

"Louise" Jessica confirmed

"Figured..."

"Well, lemme guess... Louise isn't really your younger sister is she?" said Jessica.

"May as well be, the insufferable brat!" I muttered...

"Thought so... and it's not like your dating or anything..."

"Nope... pfft... me, her? Ha! Don't make me laugh..."

"Oh and another thing about Louise... she's a noble isn't she?"

I paled "I may have disclosed all said previous information but I will DENY THIS!" I said matter-of-factly

"So, if she's a noble, does that make you her... servant or something?"

"More like bodyguard... which is probably the closest thing I'm willing to admit... but seriously why does this matter to you?"

"Bodyguard? Why would she need a bodyguard... if anything those she served would need bodyguards and those bodyguards would need their own bodyguards! OOOHHHH! You're on a mission aren't you!"

"No, no, I'm afraid not" Apparently I suck at lying...

"Please please tell me, I love stories like that!" She got right in my face, smiled all pretty like and said "I promise I won't tell anyone..."

"Yeah, that's what they all say..." I said and tried to inch back away from her.

"In exchanged I'm sure there are all kinds of things I could teach you..." she took one of my hands and put it on one of the top exposed parts of her breasts.

"T-t-teach what could you possibly teach me...?" Damnit hormones... you see if Halsey had gotten the cloning procedure correct I would be able to resist her charms no problem... not that I minded being charmed at the moment...

"What do you think" She said slyly and moved her hand down my chest towards my pants...

"Hey!" the door to the room was kicked open "What do you think you're doing there!?" Yelled Louise, and I rolled out from under Jessica... saved by the brat... never thought that would happen.

"Gathering information!" I said

"Oh really! What kind of information? Her breast size!?"

"No nothing like that, did you know that Jessica here is Scarron's daughter!?"

"OH REALLY!? And what other information HAVE YOU GOTTEN!?" She tried to kick me in the nuts but failed when I grabbed her leg, put a foot behind her other leg and pushed, knocking her down.

"I sense that your aggression inhibitors have overloaded, so why not CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" I grabbed her legs and dragged her out of the room... "Gotta train this stupid master- I mean, sister of mine to talk rather than sock-it to 'em."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I yawned as I looked out at the tavern patrons, today it was pretty full, I mean more full then usual, even yesterday... today was also the last day of the tip contest, and from the looks of it Louise wasn't doing so well in terms of her position...

The door to the tavern opened and the fattest noble I've ever seen walked in with a few guards.

"Oh Lord Chillan what a surprise!" said Scarron "I wasn't expecting you to drop by today."

"Harumph... looks like business is doing well today Scarron" said the fatass.

"No, it's not normally this busy... today is just a good day" I could tell that Scarron was nervous about this guy.

"Well lets cut the chit-chat, I'm here as a customer..."

"Erm, sorry sir but there don't seem to be any seats available..."

The fatass snapped his fingers and his guards all lined up in front of him and pointed staves at the people in the tavern... they quickly got the message and left... the prick...

The prick of a fatass went and sat down at a table "Your right Scarron there's hardly anyone here, I thought you said you were full..."

"Uh... of course sir..." I stopped listening and turned to Jessica.

"So, who's that asshole?" I asked

Jessica scoffed "That's Lord Chillan, the queen's tax collector... you cant risk pissing him off or he'll just put a big tax on you..." she sighed "He fondles you all night and then doesn't even leave any tip... no girl is foolish enough to serve him..."

"Um... then why is someone approaching him now?" Then I realised the situation "Oh shit that's Louise!" I knew this wasn't going to end well...

"Here sir, let me pour you a drink..." she said... ok... so far there was nothing going wrong... but of course the negative side of my brain just said; Oooooh, just you wait for it...

"Hey Scarron, I didn't realize you were hiring men now..." said the fatass... ah... there was the snag I was expecting.

"W-w-w-w-whaaaaaa" Louise started

"Oh I see, just small breasts! HAHA! Now then why don't you just-"

"You damned pig!" Louise yelled and kicked Chillan in the face... I sighed and made my way over there... checked my sweater pocket, good, my magnum was still there...

"How dare you! Scarron!" said the fatass who had just gotten up.

"P-please Sir Chillan Louise is a new girl and she doesn't quite know how to-"

"Silence! Guards!"

I ran towards Louise and stepped in front of her, in the path of the guards. "Don't touch her!"

"Who are you, a simple peasant, to get in the way of me! Lord Chillan!"

"I don't know..." I said and pulled out my magnum "care to find out?" I raised my pistol as the guards raised their staves... but before a shot could be fired all the guards were blasted back against the far wall.

I looked back "Louise!?"

"S-s-small breasts! A man!? How dare you insult me! You... you... FATTY!"

"Huh!? You can cast magic!? You... you're a fallen noble!"

I heard Louise growl and grit her teeth... she pulled out a scroll of paper... aaaaand there goes our cover if it wasn't already blown...

"Read this..." she let the paper unroll and the prick's jaw dropped and he paled. "What was that about a fallen noble?"

"Oh, from... from the palace... I- I'm so sorry please forgive me, none of this need to make it back to her highness! Take this, take this!" he freaked out and he and his guards ran out of the tavern... then to my surprise everyone cheered.

"You have no idea how long that bastard has had it coming!" said Jessica.

"Well, now our cover is definitely blown" I said

"Ah-ah-ah!" Said Scarron "We never question our employees or customers about their upbringing or background... we didn't see a thing..."

"We didn't see a thing!" chanted the rest of the girls.

"And speaking of which..." Jessica pointed to the huge sacks of coin that Chillan and his thugs left. "There's no need to even count it all... I think we know who won the tip contest... Louise..."

"That is right!" said Scarron "The winner of this year's annual tip contest is little Louise!"

"Yaaaaaaay!" cheered the girls.

"I... I won?!" asked Louise astonished

"Don't be so surprised" I said "Didn't you say you'd win?" I tried to appeal to her ego, as I felt I wasn't going to hear the end of this for a while, may as well try and get her to not go over bored with the bragging rights...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

That night up in the attic room I was laying on the bed, just relaxing, something I hadn't had much time to do before... I glanced up and saw Louise changing. "Hey what are you doing?" I asked

"EEK! Don't look!" she yelped

"You don't mind me looking before, yet now you've got a problem with it... sheesh..." I sighed. "Wait, is that the..." I noticed she was putting on the enchanted bustier...

"Well, it would be rude not to try it on after I won right? so I figured I might as well... what are you looking at..."

I shook my head... what was I thinking... I've already clearly stated I only like Louise as one might like their annoying little sister... but the outfit... was... enchanting! "It-it... it... I mean... Trei-bein!"

Louise sighed "Couldn't you have used another way to describe this?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**There isn't going to be any Reach dream scenes for a bit... (if you know the episode after this one, you'll know why.) and I didn't feel like adding one here, I'm gonna save it for later...**

**Anyways, if you liked this fic, why not add it to your faves, maybe follow it if you want to stay aware of updates? Also if you liked, didn't like, think a few things need improving or generally have something to say about this fic, then why not drop me a review? All the above help me out allot in staying motivated to write these fics. **

**Thanks guys, WTYL :D**


	8. The Aphrodisiac

**A/N: I'm going to skip the parts where Tabitha/Charlotte and Kirche are at the Gallia royal house, simply cuz I'd have to change POV and it would be exactly the same as in the anime, otherwise you may as well just watch the anime. **

**PS: To anyone who thinks Scorch's behavior is bad, as in: He is a terrible Spartan, you do need to remember that, if he used force to achieve all his goals, then he'd probably wouldn't get very far in this world, despite his technological advantage. He's not a bad Spartan, he's smart, thinks ahead. You won't get far by shooing your way out of everything huh? (Well... Chief did it but that's another story) anyways this is just something I wanted to get off my chest. Also, (please excuse my rant) if you've read the future OOB and AOL stories, (Though I think that's unlikely), then you'd know that Scorch isn't exactly a full fledged Spartan anymore, he is in a sense, a really OPed soldier, knows when to keep his cool, and talk things down or simply blast some faces! I'd created his character a long time ago, where I had the idea of a user specific OC (similar to some other OCs) and I wanted him to have an interesting background along with some traits of my favorite game characters. (originally Scorch had been based on a Starwars Republic Clone Commando but as his first story went on he developed more Spartan like traits and adopted the background of Noble 6.) hope that clears a few things up. I just needed to get that outta my system...**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We made it back to the institute by horse back without incident after giving our report to the princess. "I'd say it's nice to be back..." I said, and then thought about the chores I'm most likely going to be stuck with "But that would be a lie..."

"Hey!" Louise yelled and I was taken aback. "Stop touching me where you're not supposed to be touching!"

"Ah! Sorry! It's just so flat that I didn't realize where I was holding!" and Louise steamed but then I realized "Hey its awful quiet... where is everyone?" then I got elbowed I the gut and fell off the horse... I probably had that coming.

"It's summer vacation..." Louise explained "There's allot of people who have gone home for the summer, or are just traveling."

I pulled myself off the stone road "Summer vacation?" I asked for clarification. I got up and started walking back towards Louise who had stopped before Kirche and Tabitha who were getting into a carriage.

"Oh Louise, we hadn't seen you around so we thought you'd already gone home for the summer" said Kirche

"I had some errands to run in the town and I'd just completed them now." Said Louise. I walked next to Louise.

"Oh Darling!" Squealed Kirche and ran up to me, shoving my face into her breasts, it wasn't unpleasant, but I could simply sense Louise wasn't too thrilled by this gesture of affection. "I finally got the chance to see you again! Only once will I let us be torn apart please forgive me for this!" Ok, scratch that... the affection was smothering me...

I didn't want to open my mouth to speak as my mouth was... in her bosom... so I just mumbled "Mhm."

"Well in any event, I'm off to Tabitha's place for the vacation." Kirche let go of me and headed for the carriage. "Have a great vacation, my darling!" she waved at me and then entered the carriage, which started to drive away...

And of course with my refreshed adolescent mind currently in bliss I stupidly replied "Y-yeah! A great Vaca-" I dodged a kick from Louise.

"What great vacation huh!?" Louise yelled

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX (I actually wanted to add the first season lyrics... but meh... screw it...)**

* * *

"Clean my laundry and then once your done clean my room! If you don't, NO FOOD!" Louise yelled at me and threw a laundry basket at me.

My eye twitched rapidly 'keep you cool, keep your cool, keep your cool, just keep your mother fucking cool Alexander!' I thought then sighed loud and deep. "I'm sorry after _Laundry _I'm afraid all I heard was blah blah blah blah blahblahblah!" and I walked out of the room and quickly closed the door, but before I could head down the hall I heard Louise mumbling to herself.

"He's always fawning over anyone and everyone with no discretion at all... huh!? Why do I have to be upset about something completely ridiculous like this..."

'Good question Louise, on I always ask myself when I've got the time...' and I walked away, I reached to stairs when I heard her yell.

"AUGH! Geez it's so irritating!"

I shook my head and continued down the stairs, despite all the stupid labor and unnecessary hardships I'd had to deal with during my time here I felt good... maybe it was due to the success of the mission the princess gave us the other day. A job well done always put me in a good mood... unless said job was trivial... like this fucking laundry! A small part in me wanted to see what would happen if I mixed this clothing with a plasma grenade...

I reached the bottom of the stairs and sighed, I wore my marine armor today with no hat or helmet. I began to hear a commotion from across the field, it was so quiet that you could hear a bird's chirp from the top of the central tower.

"What are you saying, it's all a misunderstanding!" I looked over and saw Guiche talking to Montmorency

"Yeah, well I've heard that line way too many times!" Montmorency shot back "Try to understand Guiche, I really don't feel anything for you anymore, and I'm not sure I even ever did! I'm only seeing you right now because you pleaded with me so much."

"OH!" yelped Guiche which I found... waaaaaaay to feminine sounding... "Montmorency, please calm down and listen to what I have to say!"

"huh!" huffed Montmorency and she walked away, leaving Guiche stuttering. I noticed she muttered something to herself but I didn't quite catch what she said. I realized I hadn't moved while I was watching this scene and she almost ran into me. "Oh you! Didn't Louise go home for the summer?" she asked

"Nope, she's still here..." I replied then Guiche started to catch up Montmorency.

"Please wait! I beg you!" he cried

"Please leave me alone!" she yelped and headed into the dormitory, with Guiche following her, begging for her forgiveness.

I laughed 'those two will never change' I thought. I walked further across the field thinking about what I could do with any spare time I got... I held the basket under one arm and rubbed my shoulder with the other. I'd gone nearly three weeks or more without a shower or a proper break and my muscles ached. I'd gone longer without any sort of hygienic care (though at the time, I guess it didn't really mater) but since I was in a world with no imposing threats and I was surrounded by girls most of the time, I figured a shower wouldn't hurt... unfortunately I doubted they had modern style running water here... so a bath or something similar would have to do, however they didn't let commoners use the baths here... kinda a short-sighted plan if you ask me, unless you want all your servants to smell like shit while they serve your food.

I glanced across the field towards the kitchen, feeling a little peckish... I was running low on energy bars with only maybe a week's worth more left... so for the time being I was more or less, at the mercy of Louise if I wanted food... mind you Marteau was kind enough with the leftovers so I of course had to draw the line somewhere... as with everything about Louise... ugh! It was then I noticed a slightly rusted iron pot leaned up against the wall, it was large, large enough to fit a couple people in it... then I had an idea...

I put the laundry basket down next to a fountain and went over to the kitchen, Marteau was just coming outside with an empty bucket, I guess he was going to fetch some water for cooking.

"Hey Marteau!" I called and ran up to him "do you have any plans for this big ol' pot?"

"This old thing?" he pointed to the pot "I was planning on throwing it out in a bit... why?"

"Do you mind if I have it?" I asked

"Yes of course you can, please our sword, whatever is mine is yours!" he said an slammed a huge arm around my shoulders.

"Erk.." the guy had a hard hit... even for me... "Uh, can you do something about this nickname and these over the top gestures of affection... they're a little much don't you think?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I had managed to roll the pot over to a secluded location between a few trees in the courtyard...

Derf popped out of his sheath, I almost always carried him with me these days. "You know if you had any sense you could have brought this thing over here in an instant with magic if you'd asked a noble!"

"Meh" I shrugged "This wasn't so tough, besides I needed the workout... plus this is a bit personal" I hadn't even broke a sweat bringing this thing over here, proves that I still got the brawn to go with the brains. I mean if I was able to flip a full weight M808V Scorpion Main Battle Tank onto its right side up after it's been flipped, then by that logic this pot was child's play... and it was...

"What are you gonna do with a giant pot anyways?" Derf asked

I pulled out my E-tool (Entrenchment tool: A flip out shovel used to dig fox holes, reinforce trenches or as a melee weapon) "Just wait till tonight" I said.

"Tonight?"

Once I'd finished digging a small pit and made ventilation trenches I put some wood into the pit and placed the pot overtop, I would be able to reach into the ventilation trenches to light the fire later, but for now I wanted to talk to Mr. Colbert more about my origins and me being a _familiar... _

I ran towards his research lab, a small shack in the north-western courtyard, and entered hoping he was here. Luckily he was.

"Hey Mr. Colbert..." I said "Can I ask you something..."

"Ah, Alexander, sure, I don't see why not." Said Colbert, as kind as always... although I knew that he wasn't always like this... when we fought the covenant for the Phantom the other day, he'd shown aggression and ferocity like a killer...

"About those Covenant we fought the other day"

"Covenant?" he asked

"Oh right... I'd never explained... the Covenant are a group of highly religious fanatic aliens who seek to destroy the human race of my world in their version of a holy crusade to make way for their alleged great journey... if that makes any sense..."

The teacher sighed, I guess similar things had happened here... "Well... what about them?"

"Did you manage to perform any sort of research or analysis on any of the bodies of debris from after the battle?"

"Yes I did in fact, on the bodies I found vast amounts of this thing you called Slipspace fuel residue. They must have been trying to repair their ship for quite some time... quite a strange ship if you ask me."

"Mhm... what about the debris?"

"On the debris from the ship you blew up, I found a faint energy reading... it similar to thunder magic... a branch of air magic."

"Slipspace doesn't leave energy readings like that... that means they got here another way besides performing a slipspace jump. Maybe a portal or teleporter?"

"Well whatever the mode they got here by... I had deducted from experimenting with this antenna that I found in one piece near the wreckage." He pointed to an intact Covenant communications array. "That there have been recent energy readings sent through it... sending energy over long distances... Alexander do you know what purpose that serves?"

"It's a communications array... it's used to send information, data and messages over long distances... but judging by the size of the array I'd say this is only a short distance array, meaning no interplanetary transmissions could be sent... which means..."

"If this is true... that would be a remarkable ability! To send information and talk to people on the other side of the world! Amazing!" I regained his composure "But if what you are saying is true, then that indicates that there may be more of these so-called... Covenant, here in this world!"

"Damnit! If that's the case then I need to be on guard... but..." there was a small feeling of hope in me "If the Covies are here... then... why wouldn't the UNSC?"

"UNSC?"

"The Humans in my world are mostly part of an organization called the UNSC, basically it's the main force that is made up of Earth and all its colonies..."

"That sounds like an interesting story Alexander, but I do need to get back to my research... headmaster's orders." He sounded genuinely interested about my world, perhaps we could continue this discussion later, I liked having an intelligent man to speak to, someone who could understand my world to some extend (Or at least comprehend it).

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Later that night I was able to gather enough water to fill the pot... I lit the fire and let the water warm up before removing my clothing and stepping in. I rubbed my shoulder. 'ahhh... there we go, all that weariness and ache pains... gone... I guess I needed this more than I thought' I smirked and thought back to Reach... during the rare times we'd get military leave, some of us, myself included, would actually indulge ourselves in hot water treatments like this... we did this to rid ourselves of the constant pain the racked at us due to the Spartan augmentations... mind you the relief was only temporary and would return in about a week of two... oddly enough I'd also noticed that my augmentations weren't causing me any pain over the time I'd been here, I guess that was a side effect from the cloning process... one I was glad of for sure! If you don't know what I'm talking about, then imagine all your muscles feeling like they are going to tear themselves apart, then suddenly compressing, then twisting even though you're not moving! You muscles never would stay still, they always seize up but not really stop... just hurt like a mother fucker... the pain would be excruciating and any normal human would be liable to pass out from the pain, if you can't imagine this pain, count yourself lucky... the only way we could ignore these pains was by constant adrenaline rushes during combat... which lead to our overly aggressive and anti social behaviours... or at least that's my theory...

I sighed "Reach..." and I submerged for a moment, then poked my head back above and saw Siesta who hadn't noticed me yet... when she did... she jumped back startled and dropped something she was carrying that I hadn't seen due to my angle...

My head rose above the rim to look at Siesta, I was embarrassed but managed to hide it... to some extent... "Siesta?"

"Mr... Alexander?" She asked then looked over at what she'd spilled, a broken tea pot and a few cups lay broken on the ground. "Oh no, I did it again..." she looked at her clothing "and my clothes are all soaked!" which was odd, I don't remember any water splashing her... unless it was tea from the stuff she was carrying which I guessed it was since it had a dark tint to it.

"You alright?" I asked

"Um... yes... but... what are you doing in that big pot of water?"

"Oh this? Um... this is an older way of taking baths back in my home world... a bit rustic mind you but it gets the job done..."

"A bath?" Siesta asked and then looked around for some reason unknown to me "Really?" she asked dumbfounded... ugh... I cant help but think she's freakishly cute... ok... OK!? *Sigh*

'don't get hard, don't get hard, don't get hard' I pleaded to my adolescent brain "I found it thrown out so I brought it here and made this myself." I said

"Wow, it looks great! I'd really like to try it!" she said

I laughed nervously "Oh then care to join me?" I lowered my voice "Just kidding" I mumbled

"It is alright?" Siesta asked to my surprise.

"W-wha!?" I turned around and nearly fled the scene, which was Siesta stripping right in front of me... "W-wait! Siesta I don't think this is a very good idea!" I shielded my eyes.

"No one is here... and it's dark and steamy so I'm sure it'll be alright." The way she said it she sounded so innocent and sure of herself...

"Um... but Siesta, you are aware that I'm a guy right!?" I don't know why I pointed out the obvious but I guess it was just me trying to discourage her from doing this...

"Of course I know that! But I also know that you're not the type to do anything strange Mr. Alexander!" she said and smiled.

'You know 5 years ago I would have believed that statement... now I'm not so sure...' I thought.

Well... what's done is done... by now Siesta had hung her clothes up on the little rack I'd made out of two branches and a stick... she'd gotten into _bath _as well "I can dry off my clothing while I'm here so it's fine."

"R-really?" I wasn't looking in her direction... I didn't know what she was thinking... don't know if I wanted to...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Siesta's POV**

"Maybe you could try not to blush so much?" I said, noticing Alexander's red face, which I knew wasn't from the heat. "It's making me a little embarrassed... besides it's dark over here so you can't see very well, why not turn around?"

Slowly he turned around, and I noticed his build... I'd never actually seen his bare arms or chest before... his muscularity was... astounding, I didn't know how one could be so... built... without some sort of potion... that being said it wasn't so much a disturbingly meaty and ripped build... but it was one that very attractive yet intimidating.

We shared a nervous laugh "This bath from your home world is nice... I really like it!" I said

"Really? Well, you know how the baths here are all steam right? Well this is the way it's supposed to be done... normally I'd prefer a simple shower, but I guess I gotta treat myself every now and then."

"So... tell me Mr. Alexander, what kind of a place is your home world?"

"Reach? Well, there's only one moon in the sky... there are no mages but you can do almost anything with the help of machines, electricity and-"

"Mr. Alexander!" I exclaimed "Did you say there was only one moon and no mages!? I think your making fun of me... because that sounds similar to the one I came from!"

Alexander shied away "no, no I'm not making fun of you!"

"Ok... then... continue..."

"Ok... then... let's see... we've also got things like cars, airplanes, trains, space ships, most of which are for transportation... there's also allot of other things, but it would take me a life time to go through them all and explain what they did... mind you there is also allot of things I don't know about... being at war nearly my whole life, I didn't have time to go and explore all these items and their usage..."

"It sounds like a story my Great Great... Great Great Great Grandfather used to tell..."

"Wow... that's pretty great... how long ago was this?"

"Well he obviously passed away a long time ago, but his story survived with my family... it was about how he came from another world, and how he fell from the sky!"

"Another world? Fell from the sky? Siesta, that's what happened to- ahh!" he didn't finish what he was saying as I rose out of the water, covering my breasts and vagina. He turned around quickly and blushed.

"I have to go now though... thank you very much" I started to put my clothes back on after I dried off. "It was really fun, and the bath was lovely too" I put my little maid's cap back on. "but... maybe the most enjoyable part... just might have been you!" I blushed and giggled before walking away quickly, giggiling to myself while Alexander blushed fiercely... oh... I loved my job...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"W-what was that!" I mumbled to myself "Some sort of triple A secret meeting all naked!?" **(A/N: I have no idea if that's actually what she said, but that's what it sounded like...) **"He's a familiar and there are limits to how rude a familiar can be!" I stopped myself, realizing how stupid I was sounding. Then it hit me... "Wait just a minute why am I even sneaking around spying on him?" I paused for minute "AUGH GEEZ! THIS IS SO IRRITATING!" I yelled.

I walked through the courtyard, it had been dark for quite a while now and I came across Montmorency and Guiche sitting at a table they must have pulled from the dining hall or something...

"Look a naked woman flying through the sky!" Shouted Montmorency

Guiche's eyes lit up "Where! Where where! Where where! I don't see anything!"

Then Montmorency noticed me "Oh Louise, what are you doing out here this late?"

"Leave me alone..." I snatched the drink from Guiche, "I'll be taking this!" and I drank it back... I don't know whether is was champagne or lemonade but it sure tasted off... I slammed the glass back on the table... "Thanks for the drink!" I noticed Montmorency was in shock... meh... whatever, I didn't really care...

I just headed back up to my room, I'd scold my damned dog when he got back...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

I'd gotten back to Louise's room... she glared at me... "You've been out a long time..." she said

"Yeah, I was able to take a bath for the first time in a long while... so I made it count. Aahhh... it felt so nice..." I replied

"Yes... I'm sure it felt very nice indeed..." she growled

"W-what are you getting at?"

"Do you really think you can fool your master about something... like... that..." Louise's face got red all of a sudden

"What are you talking about Louise?" I leaned in closer to her "Hey your face just got super red all of a sudden... are you ok?" I asked and felt her forehead, it was burning up.

"My face doesn't matter..." and Louise started to sway like she was dizzy... "wh-whoa... ahoh... uh..." then her head fell slack.

"Hey Louise! What's wrong!?" I was thinking about going to find a doctor when...

"Alex... Alex... Alexander..." she started murmuring and reaching out to me with both hands... I thought resembled a zombie gesture for a moment... before... "Alexander!" She leapt at me and I nearly fell over.

"What the!?"

"Alexander, you idiot, idiot, idiot!" she lightly punched my chest, making a ping sound due to my metallic armor. "your an idiot, why did you leave me all alone to be with a horribly common girl like her! Alexander you idiot!" She hugged my neck and I was in... some serious shock and awe...

"W-what kind of cruel joke is this!?" I exclaimed

"I could never joke about this, oh I love you so much!" then Louise started crying and I didn't know what to do one bit... other then panic... I wasn't trained for this sort of situation!

Then I heard a knock at the door... "Come in!" I said

The door opened and Montmorency was there, she sighed when she saw the scene and position I was in... "Oh no... I was afraid of that..."

"Afraid of what!?" I demanded...


	9. I like to call it the Warthog

**Nothing to announce! :D**

**So onwards...**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I had been fed up with Louise's actions already for the past 36 hours... her overly obsessive affections were... smothering to say the least... way too much for me to handle... I thought back to only a few moments ago when Louise had gone over bored while I was trying to do a menial task... she'd gotten all over me accusing me of seeing another girl...

Pfft... so what if I did... it's not like I had those types of feelings for Louise... plus I already knew that this was all due to an aphrodisiac, a potion that causes the user to fall in love with the first person he or she saw... just so happened to be me...

Monmon had told me this the night Louise drank it, almost right after Louise had fallen in love with me... she had told me that the effects would wear off in due time, a month or year... I doubted I could wait that long... at this rate I doubted I would be alive that long.

Now here is where things started to get shitty... I had been bringing out some laundry for Louise, who happened to follow me, again accusing me of seeing another girl when Siesta walked by, and Louise accused me of loving her, which I denied... I had a feeling that might have set Siesta off and after convincing Louise I was only going to finish my task I went after Siesta in hopes of explaining.

"An aphrodisiac?" she asked "You know, you don't have to lie to me Mr. Alexander, I really don't mind..."

"W-what? Why would I lie, that's no lie..." I said

"Even peasants like me know..." she stood up from the fountain she was kneeling at "Spells and potions that alter a person's emotions are banned by law, that's something everyone knows... now then, if you'll excuse me, I have chores to tend to." And she walked away leaving me with an idea... Monmon...

I headed back up to Louise's room to check on her... I had a feeling she'd somehow gotten wind of my talk with Siesta and was gonna be pissed... I opened the door and wanted to shoot myself... there were clothes littered all over the floor and Louise lay on her bed in her nightgown...

"Ah! L-Louise what the fuck are you doing!?" My voice was higher then usual when I said that. Then I noticed something that made me nearly flee the room "and p-please put some panties on!"

"I don't wanna put panties on!"

"W-why not!?" I thought about that I said "I... I mean you should really get dressed, this isn't very civil is it?"

"I have absolutely no sex appeal at all! I know that because I was told that a hundred times the other day... that's why you are always going after other girls!"

"The other day?" I remembered the events at the Fairy Cafe "Oooooooh... right..."

"The fact that I have no sex appeal is also the reason you won't do anything to me even though we're always in the same room..."

I didn't like where this conversation was going... "Well... of course I don't want to do anything to you... you're like a sister to me Louise and frankly I find incest to be more than a tad disturbing..."

"But I don't! I love you Alexander and... if you wanted I wouldn't mind if you did things to me... you know... if it was only like... for an hour or so I'd close my eyes and pretend not to notice..."

I was actually rather repulsed by her suggestions, I also knew she didn't mean it... "Son of a bitch..." I cursed "hold on Louise you wait right here, I need to go find Guiche and Monmon..."

"What no your going to see that girl again arn- ah... ahhhhh... ZzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZ" she fell asleep as I hit her with a tranquilizer.

"There, that ought to keep her quiet for the next little bit..." I muttered and started down the stairs.

"Hey if you ask me it's better that she's fawning over you rather then bossing you around like usual." Said Derflinger

"Shut up..." I replied "It's disturbing and frankly there's only so much I can take..." I reached the bottom of the stairs and listened for the room Monmon may have been in, then once I'd figured out which one, I walked over to the door and kicked it in, knocking something over in the process.

"Listen up Monmon!" I said

"Hey haven't you ever heard of knocking!?" she exclaimed

"As usual you still have no sense of decorum" Said Guiche who had a large bump on his head.

"Shut up Guiche!" I turned back to Montmorency "Now you turn Louise back to normal!"

"I told you already the effects of the potion will wear off in-" I didn't let her finish.

"C'MON THERE'S GOTTA BE SOME WAY! A way to reverse the effects faster!"

"Well there is a way, but I don't have the required ingredients' to make it..."

"So where can we get them?!"

"Now Alexander" Guiche said "That isn't any way to address a noble..."

I pulled my magnum out and clicked the slider forward "Care to step outside and talk about this again?"

"Ohohohoh no... I mean there is no point in trying to argue the system of peasants and nobility with you anyways!" he jumped behind Monmon "For now Montmorency I think it would be best if we listened to his demands..."

"You are so incredibly pathetic..." said Monmon and Guiche sighed "Look say what you want, but getting a spirit tear is really difficult!"

"I hope you like closed quarters and iron bars Monmon..."

"Wh-what?"

"Oh, it's just that I heard it's not exactly legal to run around making aphrodisiacs" I said and Montmorency began to stutter "Well... I guess I should go inform headmaster Osmond about this..."

"Oh alright! I will personally go and get the potion as soon as I can!"

I smirked, blackmail was fun...

"So your, going to go and look for a rare potion?" Guiche asked

"Well it's not so much as looking for it, I know where to get it... the matter of will I actually be able to acquire it is another story..."

"Alright then let's go tomorrow!" I announced

"Tomorrow!?" Monmon exclaimed

"Oh um... I think I saw Mr. Colbert in his lab earlier today..."

"Oh alright! It's not like I have a choice!"

"So where will we find this spirit tear?" Guiche asked

"Lagdorium lake... where the water mages go to bind a pact with the water spirit... I've only been there once before... as a small child..."

I nodded and headed back up to Louise's room, who was having a fit due to my abrupt departure... "You have to sleep with me tonight! If you don't I shall punish you!" she declared, sadly, the tranq didn't work as long as I'd hoped...

"Sorry Louise, but I've got work to do... I've been meaning to try out the _Do-it-yourself-vehicle-assembly _feature on my Nano-Transformer for a while now..."

"B-bu..."

"Don't worry I'll be back in the morning... now go to sleep we need to get up early tomorrow..."

"Ok!" she chirped and went to sleep... I sighed and headed back down to the central courtyard... after putting on my MJOLNIR armor that is...

I scrolled through my Tacpad looking for the required parts... I started with the wheels, four of them, bulletproof rubber with titanium hubcaps... next was the basic transmission which would link the wheels together... this was as far as I got until I got stuck...

'Arrgh... I'm a soldier not a mechanic!' I thought and opened up my files list, which I had yet to look in, maybe there was a how-to in here some where...

_Memo from Command. _I'd check that later.

_Pending Promotion for S362. _Tempting... tempting... but I had one interest in mind right now...

_UNSC Recon of Forerunner portal. _ I didn't think that mattered at the time...

_AI fragment detection, awaiting activation._ this might help... I opened the file and a pinkish purpleish light filled my helmet.

"UNSC Smart AI Cort- wait a second... where am I?" said a pretty female voice.

"Um... why is it you sound familiar...?" I asked

"Noble six... didn't you have orders to take me to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn?"

"I... I did... wait... Pillar of Autumn? That... that was the ship I was to deliver a special AI to... back when Reach fell... that mean's your..."

"Reach fell!? What year is it?"

"Umm... 2556 I think..."

"By the creator... wait... it's all coming back now... UNSC Smart A.I Cortana... fragment... reporting..."

"Cortana? Fragment? How long have you been hiding in my suit?" I asked

"I'm only a fragment, I received a data package from my original self, with all the data about the Halos and The Arc... I... I could spend weeks analyzing all this..." I wasn't surprised with her amazement... AI only live for 7 years before they begin to deteriorate into rampancy... which is basically a AI mental state of C-R-A-Z-Y! It's rumored that if an AI survives rampancy then it will enter metastability or something like that... where is has the emotions and thought patterns of a real human... basically... in thought they become human... so for her... a few weeks was years... "It's Glorious!"

Where had I heard that before? In fact... did I even hear that before? It's almost as if hearing Cortana's voice made me remember something I'd hidden in my memory... something I'd been made to forget, for a time at least...

"So if you're a fragment, what have you been doing in my suit for so long?"

"Well..." Cortana said "My original had spilt me apart in case she was destroyed with the Autumn or captured... I guess she counted on you living... anyways I had been set so that if my original deactivated or went into rampancy I would activate, or allow for activation... which is what you did... which means..."

"Alpha Cortana was either recently destroyed or went rampant... which can mean one of two things... she's crazy and/or dead... or... Chief is still alive..."

"That's a possibility... I bet that will be a mission for you in the near future Noble Six..."

"Well... it's nice to have a friendly and familiar face around..." I said, glad to have someone with knowledge of my home with me... "By that way... do you know how to put a Warthog together?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**In the morning...**

Me, Guiche, Monmon and Louise had gotten up before the sun and headed down to the stables.

"So it's along the border with Gallia? It'll take half the day to get there on horseback!" Guiche complained

"You know I didn't ask you to come along!" Said Montmorency

"Well what else would you knight be doing if he didn't escort you on this quest? Aahahaha!"

I wanted to facepalm so hard right now, the guy seriously tried waaay to hard, and if that opinion was coming from me... well then...

"Hey" I said "I have a faster way then horse!"

"Really?" asked Guiche "Dragon?"

I walked over to a bulky object with a tarp over top of it. "This!"

"What is that?" and I pulled the tarp back, revealing a common sight in the UNSC arsenal. With its sleek and slanted front, a tow winch at the front accompanied by two tow hooks that resembled tusks, four hard as nail all terrain tires with all wheel drive. Two were at the front, the driver's seat and passenger seat. The back, where the chain/machine gun usually goes was empty leaving a truck-like bed, similar to a pickup bed you might find on any normal 21st century civilian truck.

"I give you... the M-12 L.R.V! Everyone calls it the Warthog..." I said proudly.

"Warthog? Why?" Guiche asked

I sighed and walked over to the front of the car and pointed at the winch and tow hooks "You see these tow hooks? They look like tusks!"

"Yeah but-" Guiche started

"I think it looks more like a puma..." Said Montmorency

"What in Sam hell's name is a freakin' Puma?" I asked

"Puma?" Guiche asked "Like... the shoe company?" I got a bunch of raised eyebrows... **(A/N: Let's assume they have a shoe brand called Puma just for humor's sake)**

"No, a puma! It's like a big cat!" explained Montmorency

"I think your making that up..." I said

"No I'm serious! Look it up!"

"No time, we gotta go, now then if anyone else has any more mythical creature's names to suggest..."

"No... I don't..." Sighed Monmon

"Are you sure... maybe... Unicorn?" I said

"No... I'm fine"

"Sasquatch?" Guiche suggested "Salamander?"

"GUICHE!" Monmon squealed "You're not helping!"

"Hey... hey Guiche! What's the name of that Mexican monster... the one that eats all the goats?"

"Uhhh... Chupacabra sir!"

"Yeah! Hey, hey Monmon! How about that, Chupathinggy! I like the sound of that... got a nice ring to it!"

**(A/N: Ok... I kinda butchered the fourth wall so I could make that reference... I... I... Ok I can't promise that it won't happen again...)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Wow... this thing is fast!" Said Guiche who I had let take the wheel... probably not a good idea, but it was actually easier to drive then a Mongoose... the easiest vehicle to drive in the whole UNSC! "What is it that makes it go?"

"That would be a hydrogen based engine which replaced gasoline about four hundred years ago... gasoline... which is made from refined crude oil... which has a long process of acquiring and then refining... so no, I won't explain it... but basically this thing runs on a hydrogen based system, with no need for fossil fuels." I replied, I also didn't know how either so... yeah...

Monmon who was sitting in the passenger seat looked at a map. "Lagdorium Lake is just over this hill!"

"So we finally get to see our destination huh? Woo-hoo!"

"Don't hammer on the gas, I don't want you breaking this thing!" I said "I still haven't put the gun on yet...

I was siting in the back of the jeep when Louise poked me. "Hey so I knitted something just for you Alex my love." She said, and Damnit, was it VERY disturbing to hear her say that... she held up a white cloth which I honestly didn't know what it was... so I wung... flung... erm... what the word... winged? Yeah I winged it...

I put it on my head after removing my helmet "I see... it's a uh... very lovely hat..."

She started crying "It's not a hat idiot! It's a sweater!"

"OH! Really then it's uh a very lovely... jellyfish sweater..." thankfully I was saved from putting it on as I noticed water quickly approaching us...

"Uh... how do I stop!?" Guiche screamed and I dove forward and pulled the handbreak since it was the only thing in easy reach. The Warthog lurched and almost did an endo (Reverse wheelie/doing a wheelie on the front wheels, but forward) which made Guiche fly out of the car and into the water with another girlish scream.

"Help save me!" He screamed

"What's this? Why is the water all the way up here?" Monmon asked

"Does this mean the water spirit is nearby?" I asked

"I seems like the water spirit is upset about something... the water level is unusually high right now... see?" she pointed across the water and I saw a whole village submerged underwater. "When I came here when I was little, the water level wasn't like this..." she sighed "Lets wait around here until dark... since the water spirit won't come out until after the sun has set..." I nodded.

"Hey! Before you stand around and idly chat, save me save me save me! Blub blub blub..." and Guiche went under...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Me and Guiche were both standing next to a tree, a bit of a ways from the water, when Monmon returned to us. "Ok I just sent Robin, my Toad familiar to find the Water Spirit... if lucky she'll lead it to us... that and if the Spirit remembers the contract I made with it..."

"Then once it appears... we collect a tear... what... do we have to tell sad stories or something?" I asked

"You idiot..." Said Monmon "A tear is just a name for it... we really actually need her to split off a tiny piece of her body.

A feminine voice came from my armor "Wouldn't that be a bad long term plan? Wouldn't she eventually run out of body then?"

"W-what was that?" Asked Monmon, who just looked at me in horror, same with Guiche while Louise just looked around confused.

"Unless the aberration you are speaking of has an infinite body mass in which case... she must be pretty fat..."

"Oh... I almost forgot about you..." I said "Guys this is Cortana... she's an AI, or Artificial Intelligence..."

"Hello... and you two must be Guiche and Monmon..." said Cortana

"Actually- wait! My name isn't Monmon!" exclaimed Monmon

"Well, according to my recent audio logs, you have been referred to as Monmon... so... that would be your name right?"

Montmorency steamed... oh how I missed a certain girl acting like that... uh... simply because... her current state was creeping me the fuck out! But she didn't have time to rage...

A huge spout of water erupted in front of us and we all stepped back in surprise.

"This is it guys! The water spirit!" Said Monmon and she stepped forward "My name is Montmorency Margarita! A family with which you have a lasting pact! Spirit, if you remember this, please show yourself in a form we can recognize!"

Slowly the spirit morphed from a geyser to a slender, taller and older looking version of Montmorency "I remember... lonesome one... I remember the fluid which flows through your veins..."

"I'm glad you remember me Water Spirit... for I have a favor to ask of you!"

"A favor?"

"I would very much like to have a small piece of you."

"I decline your request lonesome one..."

I couldn't believe this... we came all this way... just to be turned down by a talking fountain! "No, don't say that! Water Spirit you gotta do this..."

"Hey Alexander stop! If you tick the spirit off-"

I knelt on one knee... "I'll do whatever you tell me to do... please... all we need is a tiny bit..."

It was silent for a long time... for a moment I thought I would be vaporized... or worse... or maybe that the spirit had simply left, or taken away my hearing... but no...

"I agree" Said the Spirit and I smiled "You say that you will do anything that I ask of you?"

"Yes"

"I am busy increasing the amount of water, and I do not have time to deal with the attackers."

"Attackers?"

"Yes... some of your kind have been attack us for some reason."

"I don't believe it" said Guiche "Who in the world would be so reckless as to attack the water spirit?" and Montmorency shrugged.

"All right, you have a deal..." I said and both Guiche and Monmon yelped "So, if we defeat these attackers, you'll give us a piece of your body?"

"I will" Replied the spirit.

"I do not want to be in any sort of fight!" wailed Montmorency

"Would you rather be locked up in prison Monmon?"

"AH! Oh all right fine we'll do whatever you want!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We hid in the forest on the edge of the lake... keeping a look out for any sign of these so-called, attackers...

"So this spirit lives on the bottom of the lake huh?" asked Cortana who had appeared in her holographic form on my shoulder, a purple human nude female, whose bits were censored by Forerunner runes and writings. At first this disturbed the others but the stopped caring after Cortana didn't even seem to notice... except Guiche... Cortana had called him out twice already for staring at her hologram... to which Monmon stomped on Guiche's foot... in a sense... Monmon already liked Cortana... and so Cortana continued her question "If that's the case how would someone get to the bottom? I mean it's highly unlikely that you have any form of scuba gear or submarine technology..."

"We are probably dealing with a user of Air" Said Monmon

"That's what I was thinking" added Guiche "Using Air magic, a user could form a bubble for air and easily walk along the lake bottom... we must be dealing with quite a caster..."

"HEY!" Shouted Louise and elbowed me in the ribs "All this time you've been talking to Montmorency and the Glowing girl! You love them much more then you love me don't you!"

"No no, nothing like that at all... I mean me and them... we're talking about something really important like how to cure you!"

"Cure me of what!? I'm perfectly fine!"

"No you're not your sick!"

"Sick? Maybe Love sick! I love you very much Alex and that's all that's wrong with me!" she declared

I was repulsed and I could hear Cortana snickering at me from inside my helmet. "Y-yes... and I love you too Louise" I said, doing all I could to keep the sarcasm out of my voice "But for now I need you to stay quiet, think you can do that?"

"Yes! I'll be as quiet as I can be!" she chirped

"Wow... Louise is... that potion works well..." mused Monmon

"HEY! Don't act like your all proud of yourself!" I yelled

"Shhh!" hushed Guiche "Someone is out there!"

We all looked out from our cover and saw two hooded figures... one was shorter than the other and waving a cane like staff around.

"Sounds like someone is chanting a spell" finished Guiche

I turned to Louise "Now you be a good girl and wait here until I get back ok?" I started moving out of my hiding place, readying my DMR. I was about to leave the foliage of the woods when I was pulled aside... by Guiche none the less...

"Hold on a sec... our opponents can wield some pretty powerful spells... it would improve our chances if we didn't take them on in a head to head fight..." said Guiche...

"Wait... your going... to help me?" I asked dumbfounded... I didn't believe what I was hearing...

"Of course I am, it would shame a noble's name to allow some peasant to fight by himself..."

"Sorry but-... wow... wow Guiche I... I totally had absolutely no faith in you until now..."

"Hah, don't sweat it!"

"So, since you came all this way to join the fight, I assume you have some killer plan ready right?" I wasn't holding my breath... but hey , his death might be funny... so I might as well humor him...

"Right, the plan will go like so; I will stay here and use magic to distract our enemies... then you, will seize the opportunity and attack the enemy from behind!"

"A pretty basic _Hey look at that, gottcha _trick... it's worked for me tons of times so I guess... hey... wait a second... your just trying to get off with the easy part aren't you?"

"Uh! What are you talking about? I'm a mage and you are a warrior! So this plan makes perfect sense!"

I rolled my eyes "Whatever, now I'm gonna sneak around back... I trust you with the rest... ok?"

Guiche nodded and got into position...

I snuck around using my active camo to avoid early detection, I got into position until I heard Guiche cast his spell and I emerged from cover... only to find his spells were ineffective... I drew Derf in one hand and my Magnum in the other... however the mage's had already spotted me.

A blast of fire came at me and I instinctively swiped at it only to find it was deflected... a nice trick, I'll have to remember that one... the shorter one sent a storm of ice bolts at me, all of which I dodged easily! Another blast of fire and I rolled to the ground, under the fire before springing to my feet... a blast of wind was thrown at me but I shouldered past it before launching my self at the taller one, knocking her over, planting an armored boot on her chest and leveling my sword with her neck...

I cut away the hood and dropped my magnum. "Kirche!? Th-then that means..." I looked over at the other girl who had taken her hood off. "Tabitha!"

"Powerful force... to defeat us both... you are..." said Tabitha

The others came out of hiding. "Tabitha? Kirche? What are you doing here?" they asked

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

After a long and boring talk we figured out that Tabitha had to defeat the water spirit, since the rising water levels were threatening her family's property... I wasn't buying the bullshit however... but the others were eating it up... after a while I remembered that the water spirit had been angry about something, so I explained that the least we should do was ask why she was so pissed off..

We returned to where we had first contacted the water spirit...

Once Monmon had re-summoned the spirit... "Why are you overflowing the lake? Everyone is really upset about it!" I asked

"I'm flooding the lake because one of your kind stole a treasure from me... and since I can only exist in water, if I flood the entire world with water, I will one day have the treasure back in my possession.

"You want to fill the whole world with water? A bit of a long term plan isn't it?" I said

"It can't be helped" Monmon explained "The Sprits are immortal beings... that being said their sense of time is much different than our own."

"Oh do I know that feeling" said Cortana, but she was ignored

"Ok then if that's what it will take, I'll find that treasure and I'll bring it back here!" I declared, to which everyone's jaw dropped

"Alexander I know that's easy to say" said Kirche "but-" I ignored her

"What was the name of the treasure that was stolen from you?" I asked

"Andvari's ring... it is a ring with which I have spent much time with..." the spirit replied

"Andvari's ring..." mused Monmon "I think I've heard of it... if I'm right then it's a ring which can grant artificial life!"

"So what kind of person stole the ring?" Kirche asked

"One of the thieves was called... Cromwell... that is all I know..." said the spirit

"Very well... I'll do whatever it takes to find that ring and return it to you... I promise!" I said

"You should give it up man" sighed Guiche "Who would believe a random person who just showed up... and let alone someone like you... I mean you're not even a mage!"

"I believe..." said the spirit and a small vial could be seen flying towards us and landed in Guiche's hand.

"The spirit tear!" He exclaimed "But... but why?"

"Gandalfr made an oath to me in the distant past... and he kept that oath... if it comes from Gandalfr, then it is worth believing..." the spirit explained

"_Gundulf_?" I muttered "Again with this Gandalfr crap..." I raised my voice "Well I promise to keep my oath and return the ring to you someday."

"Someday?" Monmon asked skeptically

"Spirits are immortal right? so then it shouldn't matter how long it take right?" I turned back to the spirit "So how about lowering the water levels please?"

"I promise to do so..." and the spirit disappeared...

We had the spirit tear... I was off to find a magical ring... and soon Louise would be back to normal... everything would be just fine...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Man was I wrong... back in Louise's room I stood against the wall, with one foot propping me up against it and my arms behind my head, leaning casualy while Louise flipped off her rocker... again...

"How... how horrible! This is the biggest mistake of my life!"

"You know I'd have thought you'd of forgotten about what happened..."

"No, I remember all of it! Uggghh... to think that you and me might have done _this and that _it's horrid!" she tried to whip me but I caught it and snapped the crop in half and threw the bits across the room...

"You really shouldn't take it out on me, Monmon made the potion and you drank it... so by logic, it's your fault!"

"SHUT UP! YOU... YOU... YOU DOG!" she was about to go get another crop (she's got a whole dresser full of them since I break them whenever she tries to use them...) but before she reached the dresser the bedroom windows burst open and I drew my pistol and aimed it at the window as a hooded figure floated up and entered the room...

"Who goes there!?" I demanded "State your business!"

"I see your being rowdy as always..." said the hooded girl... who had a rather familiar voice... a very cute one at that... the person removed their hood.

"Princess! Princess Henrietta!" Louise exclaimed... the Princess just smiled sheepishly...

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter... might have gotten a little boring at the end however... alas... not all things can change... but change is coming to this magical fucked up world (I've taken to calling the world of FoZ **_**"This Magical Fucked up World" **_**Whenever I forget the name of what it's actually called...**

**Get ready to see what the UNSC has been up to next chapter! They won't actually get to Halka... Halaa... *See below to know what I call this place when I forget the name* until the last episode of Season 1... Which will probably be chapter 13...**

**PS: There is going to be a Lem on chapter 12... if you don't like that sorta thing, I've left plenty (And I mean plenty) of warnings on that chapter, so if you don't like that sorta thing, then just go back to chapter six and re-read what sort of notifications to look out for so you can safely skip the lem but still keep reading that chapter.**

**Anyways if you liked, or didn't like... why not drop a review saying what you did or didn't like... maybe add a few tips and tricks to help me improve as constructive criticism is welcome... but if you really did like the story and want to see more of it, you should really consider following and adding the story to your faves. All the above help me out allot when it comes to staying motivated to write this fiction... thanks guys and gals, and I'll WTYL :D**


	10. Plans

**If I didn't upload this April 26th of 2013 then I'm sorry, I hadn't finished it in time, and since the weekend is my time off, I hope you can understand. Now then, that's all I have to say... onward to the season's conclusion! In due time...**

**(It's been confirmed, UNSC will be arriving in chapter 13 at the soonest, until then I've got a lot of surprises for you guys.)**

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"Lady Henrietta!" Exclaimed Louise and walked towards the princess with concern "What's the matter princess? Is something wrong? There has to be a reason why you would come here alone so late at night."

"Yes... I have a request, a most urgent request that I must make of you in secret..."

We both tilted our heads.

"Well... Maybe I should explain first..." the princess went over and sat on Louise's bed, while Louise knelt in front of her... but... she wasn't my princess so I felt no obligation to do so... "After much thought... I've decided to marry into a family in Germania..."

"What did you say?" Louise asked with concern and raised her head. "Your going to marry into a country of savage, upstart nobles!?"

"There's nothing I can do about it" explained the princess "To keep our small country of Tristain safe from harm, my family must form strong alliances with a larger kingdom..."

"Um..." I raised my hand "I don't get it, how will marrying into a forgone family help keep Tristain safe?"

"I believe I can explain that one Noble Six..." Said Cortana who's avatar flickered to life on my shoulder. Catching the princess of guard.

"What is that?" she asked and Louise explained while Cortana talked to me. It took a while but eventually I understood.

"Didn't Déjà teach you anything Noble Six?"

"I'm pretty sure Déjà was the teacher of the Spartan-II's Cortana... not the Spartan-III's... and all we learned was ancient warfare history, not the medieval feudal system!" I said "But anyways... back to you Ma'am" I nodded towards Henrietta...

"Well... it's ok... I am the princess of Tristain am I not? I don't mind making sacrifices and putting the need of the country in front of my own..."

I raised my hand again... what... was I in class? "Um... question... why not just form a treaty?"

"Treaty? Like... a official document of alliance?"

"Basically"

"Such documents require a noble of high status to marry into the receiver's family or country... and in this case that would be me... it's sort of a tradition, but at the same time it's also required... the alliance might fail if I didn't marry..."

I scoffed to which I got a look of horror from Louise, probably because she thought I was insulting the princess. "That's dumb... back where I come from a treaty is a word of honor! And I take it you hold honor very highly here? If the UNSC was here, I bet they'd love to have an alliance with Tristain for a reasonable deal... maybe like... trading rights and land rights... and in return, not only would Tristain have the best army in the universe guarding her, but she'd have access to other worlds, materials, weapons and more that would otherwise be un-obtainable here! But..." I paused "I'm no politician so, it's just a hunch..."

"Curious..." said the Princess "Sounds like your world has a much different way of running things then ours..."

"Well... yeah... I mean, there's no nobility or anything so-"

"WHAT!?" Both the girls yelped, then the Princess took over "B-but how!? If there are no nobles then how do you run your countries?"

"Easy, it's called a democracy... in theory... it's the best kind of government system... in theory... it works by each party gaining seats in the galactic senate by winning the ridings of each planet... the planets which have the same things happen, decide on... their municipal leader, which is a mayor by voting, then the leader of that party's local branch is put in as the mayor, and then for each province you have the... erm... what was it called... prefect? No... well whatever... you have the head of the provincial come from the party who has the most municipality wins, as in most mayors in position in that province or region..." I took a breath "Then after that the federal leader is from the party with the most provincial wins... then the planetary leader is from the party with the most federal wins and then last but not least the galactic leader is from the party with the most planetary wins..."

"Sounds complex..." Said the Princess

"I think that's how it works for us... but the thing is, the leaders don't have absolute power... they can't go making changes whenever they feel like it, no that has to pass through the appropriate level of concourse... like the federal or planetary house of commons... where more representatives from each riding will come and vote on the matter, such as passing a new law, bill or regulation..." I sighed, I never paid much attention to politics. "The idea is that the representatives will vote, based on the ideals of those who voted to put them in that position of power... meaning that, ideally, you like the ideas or attitude a politician has, then you vote for him or her and hope that they make the choices you would have made... however it seldom goes exactly as planned... hitches DO happen... that being said I highly dislike Dictatorships, Totalitarianisms, Militarists and Despotisms... Communism is another story... I hate it... but I like it at the same time..." I laughed "The principals are great... but it never... NEVER... EVER works... just look at history... all communist governments turned into Military Dictatorships... that being said, I'm only tolerating this Monarchy because you seem like a nice leader... or soon to be leader anyways..."

Louise jabbed my side "So, can the princess get back to what she was saying? I mean that was very educating and all but you are addressing royalty!"

"Right... sorry..." I returned my attention to her highness...

"That's an intereting story Mr. Familiar... sounds like Louise got a very interesting one indeed..."

"Please, ma'am, call me Alexander or Scorch, whichever you prefer."

"OK, Alexander..." she smiled and I smiled back... for a monarch she was very cute... "But... there is something I must do before I marry..." she stood up and walked over to the window.

"What, Princess? If there is anything you need me to do just tell me and I'll do it no matter what!"said Louise. Which meant, wherever she went... I went... I sighed, full well knowing where this was going.

"That's very kind, I thank you Louise Françoise," said the Princess "I would like you to retrieve a certain item..."

"A certain item?" I commented "Yeah... way to build up dramatic tension... just cut to the chase, what is it, and what needs blowing up? This sounds like something I was made for!" I thought for a moment, I slammed my hand over Louise's mouth to shut her up before she screamed at me for being _rude _"Unless this is just some glorified fetch quest..."

"I want you two to journey to the country of Albion... and retrieve a letter I sent to Prince Wales."

"Albion!?" Exclaimed Louise

"Yep... glorified fetch quest right there!" I confirmed

"If the world finds out about that letter, my engagement will be called off..."

"Must be some pretty sensitive documents if it could ruin something like an alliance..." said Cortana

"You will have to be increidibly careful, Albion is in a very unstable situation... politicaly that is..." warned Henrietta.

"I heard that the nobles have started a Coup and that the royal family is about to fall..." said Louise

"I'm so sorry that I'm even asking such a close friend of mine to undertake this dangerous journey... but..." the princess pulled a weepy pause "The only people in all of Tristain I could trust to ask... are the two of you..."

Louise gasped and run behind the princess, who was still looking out the window, she knelt "Thank you so much Princess..." she said.

Henrietta turned around "Why are you thanking me Louise?"

"That you would trust me so much as to allow me to take such an important mission for you and Tristain... I couldn't be any happier then I am right now!" said Louise

"Oh Louise!" cried the Princess... what a girly moment... I thought one-sidedly, before pulling out my MA5B and cocking it, getting the attention of the girls.

"You're not my princess... or queen... or general... of leader of any kind... I don't owe you anything..." they both gasped and Louise looked like she wanted to strangle me.

"But..." I said "Louise seems to think highly of you... she trusts and cares for you very much... and I in turn trust Louise... even if she is a brat sometimes... she knows how to pick good friends... as far as I can tell... so..." I lowered my rifle and did something out of my personal military tradition... I knelt in front of the princess... "I personally, admire you for that... so... for what it's worth... I will give you my service... and if need be I will die... for you... My lady..."

I head Louise gasp, not out of anger or rage, but due to the fact she'd probably never seen me this... servile or humble... I was basically swearing fealty to this girl, but, I'd never even thought of doing it to her, even though she was supposed to be my master... big deal I though... I reserve my respect and only will take orders, from those who have earned the right... which raised the question what the fuck was going through my mind the last few weeks... guess the fear of not eating or sleeping had gotten the better of me... damned essentials...I then heard the door creak open a little bit... I flipped around and sprang to my feet, aiming my rifle at the door.

"Who goes there, identify yourself!" I declared, then the door swung fully open and I saw a blonde, curly haired prissy boy standing there.

"Guiche!" Both me and Louise exclaimed

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I was hanging around outside the dormitory tower, near the fountain next to said tower, I just wanted some fresh air and to think about what had just happened. I couldn't believe Guiche was going to tag along, the only thing he'd be good for is cannon fodder, if even that! I sighed and began to brace myself for what I thought was going to be the longest trip I'd been on since I got to... whatever the name of this world is... seriously though, I can't pronounce it nor remember it for the life of me!

I heard soft foot steps approaching me, I glanced over and saw Siesta approaching me. "Um... Mr. Alexander."

"Hey Siesta..." I said

"I am so terribly sorry... about the aphrodisiac..." she bowed apologetically "I heard that it was true... I'm sorry that I was so rude to you Mr. Alexander..."

"Meh" I shrugged "It's no big deal... we managed to get Louise back to normal anyways... thankfully..." I thought back to what the Water Spirit had said the other day "Again with that Gandalfr stuff..."

"I'm sorry?" Siesta asked

I stood up from my resting position "Happen to know anyone with a detailed knowlage of history?" I asked

"Lets see..." Siesta put a finger to her chin "History..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Siesta had pointed me in the direction of Profeser Colbert, so early in the morning I went over to his lab to see if he was there... sure enough he was.

When I brought up the Gandalfr stuff with him, he started off like so;

"Well you see" He said as he mixed two blue liquids together in a potion flask "Originally a long time ago, there were five elements of magic... not just earth, water, air and fire... the five elements are said to have been the pinnacles of the pentagon... the fifth element known as the lost apex of the pentagon is the element of Void. And this Gandalfr you are inquiring about was the familiar the now legendary Void mage"

"The familiar of the Void mage huh?" I said

"However, no mage in modern times" I wanted to laugh when he said modern, but I kept my mouth shut "has ever been confirmed to posses Void magic... the rune there... the one on your hand, closely resembles the rune of Gandalfr... but... unfortunately since the Void Mage no longer exists, we can speculate, but we have no way of knowing for certain whether or not you're actually Gandalfr"

I chuckled humorlessly "Well my master is hardly what you'd call legendary... being the way she is and all..." I sniffed and smelt a foul stench on the motionless wind... I glanced over and saw a flask full of a dark, brownish substance. "Hey I thought something smelled weird... I guess it's this stuff..."

"Ahhh..." sighed Colbert "That right there is dragon's blood"

"Dragon... blood?"

"Ages ago two dragons never before seen appeared in the skies accompanied by a tremendous roar... shortly after one of the dragons disappeared from the sky, while the other one plummeted to the ground... and as you can see... I happened to come across some blood rumored to have been shed at that time... I'm currently in the process of replicating it now."

"So... this is really blood? I mean... the stench..." I would have stuck around longer to ask more about this supposed dragon, but I had to go, we were meeting together with some guard the Princess had assigned to be our guide at the front gate...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"So where is this guard anyways?" Louise asked, then a minor tremor in the ground caught our attention... something was digging out of the ground... "What's that?"

Then a large brown... mole... type... thing... came out of the ground and Louise yelped

"Oh Verdande!" squealed Guiche and jumped out of his seat on the Warthog... oh yeah, did I mention we were taking the Warthog? Anyways... Guiche ran towards his familiar and hugged... it... him... whatever... "Oh my precious little Verdande, you thought I would leave you behind again because I went to the lake without you... you touch my heart so much my Verdande! Adorable Verdande!"

Me and Louise were standing behind Guiche while watching this rather entertaining scene. "He seriously overreacts to everything huh?" I whispered

"Yup" agreed Louise, who then raised her voice "This is ridiculous...We cannot take a giant mole with us!" and as soon as she finished saying that, the mole advanced on Louise "Wh- what is it doing?" she demanded as the mole sniffed her... then it jumped on her and I cracked up... it was nice... the first time I'd laughed at her expense that was not of my doing... felt good...

"AH! What's it think it's doing!? Guiche! Get it off me get it off me get it off!" Screamed Louise, and I couldn't stop laughing... I think Guiche was trying hard not to laugh as well..."

"Oh I see, he's spotted the ring!"

"WHAT!?"

"Oh my precious Verdande has infatuation with gems, he especially likes gems which are high in value..." Guiche explained

"You've got to be kidding! This ring is the ruby of water! It was given to me by Princess Henrietta, I'm not gonna let some big mole eat it! C'mon help me out!" she pleaded... then from out of nowhere a gust of wind slammed into Verdande and sent him flying.

"My Verdande!" Guiche yelped "who did that!?" he raised his rose and looked around.

"Contact, 6 o' clock, high!" Said Cortana and I looked behind me and in the sky... a deep bellow was heard and something flew down from the fog... landing in front of us...

"A Griffon!" Exclaimed Guiche, indicating the huge creature with the head of an eagle and body of a lion... I think... and of course with huge wings and talons... to which... at this point... didn't surprise me... but it sure as hell shut me up for the next 60 seconds... "Who, who are you! Identify yourself!" said Guiche, the bastard, he stole my line from last night!

A man in an all purple musketeer looking outfit jumped of the back of the winged beast and lifted his had up so we could see his face, silver haired and bearded with grey eyes, his face reminded me of some famous ranger from an old movie trilogy about a ring... made back in the 21st century... "I'm Wardes, leader of the Griffon squad and I've been ordered by Lady Henrietta to accompany you on your journey." He glanced at my Warthog "Interesting wagon..."

"Thanks, I think" I said

"Wait, so your..." started Louise

"Are you really one of the famous magic guards?" Guiche finished but was ignored by Wardes.

"Ah, Louise..." he said and walked towards her... "I was under the impression that my fiancé was in trouble..."

"F-f-f-fiancé!?" I exclaimed, and I was followed up by Guiche saying;

"Y-y... your kidding right?!" to which I was inclined to agree... this guy was old enough to be her father, either this guy was so some sort of crazy pedophile... or this world had no recognition of something called an AGE DIFFERENCE! It really just creeped the fuck out of me...

This man... this Wardes guy, walked up to Louise and picked her up bridal style "Ah you my darling are as light as always, just like a bird's feather!"

"It... it's been quite a while, hasn't it Lord Wardes?" Said Louise

And so we started on our journey... Me and Guiche were on the Warthog, I'd taught him how to use a shotgun and my old MA37, since I didn't use it anymore as I replaced it with my MA5B, he caught on surprisingly quick... but a shotgun _is _extremely easy to use... meanwhile Louise sat on Wardes' lap up on his Griffon... I glanced at Guiche holding my MA37, then at the M41 LAAG (Light-Anti-Armor-Gun) or simply known as, The Gauss Cannon, which I'd finally mounted on the back... that gun could put a round clean through a Covenant Banshee or Revenant... thinking back about this... I started thinking about Reach and the UNSC... I wondered if they'd even noticed I was missing...

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**UNSC Marine's POV**

"Sgt. Stacker! You have a meeting with Fireteam Alpha through Delta up in the briefing room!" said a passing Private, I then remembered about the mission that I was supposed to be joining and double timed it up to the briefing room. I walked in the door as casually as I could given the fact I was late... I looked over the room, there was a fancy AI at the front giving us our mission details.

"Good afternoon men and women... I will be briefing you on Operation: Eclipse... gather round please..." We all took our seats and watch the holographic projector roll through the slides. "A few weeks ago, the Spartan known as Noble Six went missing, right from his apartment just a few blocks away from here... But... Almost a week ago, here on Reach, an energy disturbance was detected for the first time, building up at the location at the moon and sun's highest rising point, the point of a solar eclipse... ONI has conducted research on the energy readings and has detected a series of forerunner portals, similar to those on the Halo installations and Forerunner Shield worlds. However... this kind of portal is a long range portal similar to the one which leads from Earth to the former location of The Arc... but this time, the portal does not lead to the activation point of a weapon of galactic destruction, no... this simply leads to either the near center, or edge, of the galaxy... we have yet to determine for sure... so then, with these portals popping up all over the galaxy during solar eclipses... we are going to investigate more thoroughly... Fireteams Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, your jobs are to enter the portal and establish a firebase on the other side. The portals are to small to send full sized ships through, so we will be sending 6 fully loaded Pelicans with you, carrying enough supplies for you to survive a year with, along with some nice firepower. Each Pelican has a Warthog loaded onto it, except for one with a Scorpion Tank on it... it's a hybrid of the older versions, with both a body machine gun turret and a coaxial machine gun on the main gun turret. So all in all, you will be getting, approximately 3 tons of supplies including ammo, food, weapons and tools... five warthogs, one Scorpion, six Pelicans all loaded for combat might I add, and ten marines per fireteam... making 30 marines and 12 pilots, since Fireteam Delta is an all ODST team, so also add 10 fully armed and lethal ODSTs... 52 personnel in total..."

Well call me a Covie's uncle, that was a lotta hardware! The briefing AI told us that this mission was to executed about a week from now, we'd go in, secure a landing area for a firebase, and recon the surrounding area... that was assuming we even landed at a planet! We knew nothing about where we were headed, with no information about the terrain or the locals... it was a job I knew the Spartans would love... however most of the Spartan IVs were either on Spartan Ops or Training... I heard Crimson Team might join this mission if they finished their training in time, but at the current rate I doubted their participation any time soon. Team Rebirth might join the mission as well... one of the new yet somehow old Spartan teams... I don't understand what ONI meant by that, then again no one ever really understands those spooks... all I knew, is we were heading into uncharted territory... we'd go in, perform our recon then get home... and there there'd be ice cream... Oorah!

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**Scorch's POV**

We'd finally entered the _Port_ village... though how you could call this place a port was beyond me... this place, La Roche or whatever it was called was nestled high in the mountains, not a speck of ocean was in sight... and to boot, all the buildings were carved right out of the mountains... pretty impressive, Guiche said that it had been built by a group of Square-Class Mages... but to me, this was pretty easy work, nothing you couldn't do with a few Hydro Drills and allot of time...

It must have been a strange sight... seeing a Griffon followed by a three ton metal beast... the Warthog was probably a more amazing sight and eye grabber then the Griffon simply due to the way everyone was looking at us...

We followed a path up the hills in the village to an inn we'd be staying at... "We'll be staying here tonight, then depart tomorrow evening... alright?" said Wardes, stating the obvious...

"Y-yes! Of course Lord Wardes!" Said Guiche, I on the other hand ignored him...

"Scorch" Said Louise "The least you could do it answer him!"

"It's alright" said Wardes "I never cared much for the trappings of nobility anyways..." and he entered the Inn.

I unpacked some of our stuff, putting them into a pile near the edge of a cliff with a banister, it overlooked the whole village... the evening was fast approaching... and the sun was setting. I placed the last thing down and brushed off my hands, not noticing Louise behind me until she cleared her throat.

"Just so you know... I'll tell you this much..." she said "My parents were the ones who decided on this whole fiancé thing..."

"Mhm..." I nodded, I honestly didn't care, if that's what she was getting at.

"What!? What was the _Mhm _all about?"

"He's stuck up... but... he seems to be the most decent out of all the nobles I've met so far... so... he's a good enough guy right?" I asked out of mere concern.

"Hmmf... that's right... ever since I was a child I'd looked up to Lord Wardes..." I understood that... having a childhood hero was common in my world as well, so why not here. "He's lost so much, he lost his parents early on and worked really hard to become the leader of the magic guards" I could relate to that... then Louise said something that sent me off my rocker... "As opposed to you!"

*SLAM*

Louise's eyes doubled in size as I slammed her against the banister holding her by her neck, her head off one side, I was pushing down threatening to pop her head off... something I'd done before. "What. Did. You. Just. Say..." I said through gritted teeth... it seemed like we were back to day one when I'd almost shot her...

"ah, Gack... cleek, kkkkaaaaaa... ack... klk ah uuuuhhhh..." gasped Louise, I pushed forward a little more and she started flailing around, she was at her endurance's end, I didn't care... I clutched her neck and threw her away from the banister, to the floor. I didn't feel like apologizing this time... I stepped over her saying "You don't know the first thing about loss..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Later that night...**

Me and Louise still weren't talking... I didn't care... I figured if I spoke to her I'd end up beating the crap out of her, and that would be a bad thing... all of us sat at a table in the inn, Guiche was stuffing his face, while I didn't feel like eating...

"I hear you summoned a human familiar Louise" said Wardes and I mentally scoffed. "I'd expect nothing less from you Louise." Man... this guy was even worse when it came to acting like Guiche...

"I wouldn't think you would say something like that Lord Wardes."

"No, I didn't mean it out of Sarcasm, this is an amazing thing you've done Louise..." there was a long pause... and I glanced up to find that he was staring at me... but now that he had my attention he continued "Word is you two engaged in a duel am I right?"

My mood lifted significantly and I smirked when Guiche started to choke on his food after Wardes said that... I had to hold back a snicker or two.

"I also heard that this duel marked the first time you'd wielded a sword is that true as well?"

"Well... technically... a sword of this age... I'd wielded my own version of swords from my world, which I guess weren't much different..." I admitted

"I also heard that you used the Staff of Destruction to capture Fouquet the sculptor right?"

"Yeah that is correct... man, you sure are in the know of it all huh?" I noted, but I also found it highly suspicious...

"Being in my position makes me in the privy to all sorts of detailed information" Said Wardes, which I guess was a good point...

"Even about a peasant familiar like himself?" Louise asked, aiming an insult at me which I brushed off... simply due to the fact that, in truth, she had just raised a very good counter point...

"Actually that is why I've grown an interest in you..." Wardes returned his gaze to me "And I was thinking I'd like to ask you to engage in a practice match."

"Really?" I asked "Are you sure?"

"What!?" Louise Exclaimed

"Our ship doesn't leave until tomorrow... and it does get ever so dull spending your time idling about."

"But Lord Wardes!" Protested Louise

"It's fine Louise" I said "Besides"

"I'll do my best to hold back" both me and Wardes said at the same time... catching him more my surprise then me... I knew I could beat him... easy...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I found myself up in a separate room with two single beds, along with Guiche... Louise apparently we staying in the same room as Wardes... which again... I found highly disturbing...

Guiche was standing out on the balcony when he said "This is turning out to be quite the romantic evening"

I was laying on my bed with my arms crossed behind my head and leg crossed over one another. "No... not really..." I said casually

"It's just a shame that you'll be the one lying next to me tonight..." I don't know where he got that, we had separate beds... but I'd humor him...

"I feel the same way Guiche..." I said

Guiche returned to the room "Oh! I just remembered I have something to do!"

"Something to do?" I inquired

"I just remembered that while we were eating earlier I spotted a young lady in the room... I must find her and speak with her, it would be a shame not to don't you think?" and he quickly left the room...

"What kind of messed up logic is that?" I muttered "Hey Derf"

Derf popped out of his sheath... "Yeah what is it partner?"

"Do you know anything about Gandalfr?"

"What are you talking about? This late in the game?" he said and I sat up.

"What?"

"What are you, who are you if your not Gandalfr! For six thousand years from past to present, my partner has always been Gandalfr, and that's you!"

"Huh..." I nodded and took in the information... I grabbed Derf and walked out to the balcony, leaning him against the banister. "We just happened to buy something from the bargain bin in the armory you know... it was just a coincidence."

"In this world there are no such things as coincidence, you've always been my partner Gandalfr... that's the sole reason I'm here... doesn't that make sense?" said Derf

"If that's true then why didn't you say anything sooner?" I asked

"Because you didn't bother askin'!"

"That's a lame excuse" said Cortana who appeared on my shoulder "I mean you told me!"

"Oh c'mon! You'll tell my AI something, but you won't tell me!? Some partner!" I joked "But... still..." I looked at the back of my left hand "The power to freely wield weapons... handy..."

"I will however tell you that the power only applies to weapons that were made to be weapons... it won't work with ornamental weapons like that shiny sword Kirche bought you, or say a kitchen knife."

"Ok..." I processed the information "So if I wield you or any weapon in battle so long as Gandalfr works, will I win, even against this Wardes guy?"

"Are you stupid or something? It's up to you whether to win of lose! A weapon is just a weapon, sure it matters who's got the bigger stick, but it matters a hell of allot more who's swingin' it!"

"Right right... where have I heard that before..." I mused.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

In the morning me and Wardes found a quiet ally just outside the inn to have our duel...

"So shall we begin?" he asked me

"Whenever you're ready..." I replied

"Stop the madness you two!" shouted Louise, what madness... the duel hadn't even begun... not to mention this wasn't Sparta... also there was no epic deep well I could kick Wardes down... sadly...

"We can't help it Louise, we nobles are troublesome folk... when we start wondering if we are stronger then someone, then we must take action." Said Wardes

"Scorch! This is an order! Stop this at once!"

"I uh... can't hold anything back..." I said

"Don't be so humble my boy, come at me with full force!" said Wardes

"As you wish..." I drew Derf and charged, slashing at him but he dodged the attack easily, in fact he seemed to dodge each of my attacks easily enough... I tried to feint an attack then go in the other direction but that didn't work either...

"Your quite agile... and strong... I can sense you have plenty of training, you leave very little open to attacks..." he commented... "But can you stand up to this? _Delm, Wild, Solv, Nav, Winde..."_ and a force shoved me back and I landed on my backside, but I used the momentum from impact to perform a backwards roll to my feet.

"Hey! You know I can't use magic! You don't play fair Lord Wardes!" I said

"your enemies won't play fair in a real battle, Sir Alexander, that's something I'm willing to teach you!"

"Well... two can play at that game!" and Wardes came at me again, I stood perfectly still, and as soon as he was about to strike me and reached to my side and the sound of fierce plasma crackling to life sounded as my energy sword sparked to life, cleaving Wardes's foil in half, leaving him holding only the hilt and handle with an expression of shock on his face.

"I hope you have an extra dildo sword, Sir Wardes..." I taunted

"Well played Alexander..." Said Wardes "A cunning opponent will seize every opportunity they can get to gain the advantage over their enemy. We are evenly matched I would say."

'Riiiiiight... you keep thinking that... whatever tickles your peach...' I thought, knowing full well I could kill him before he drew his sword...

"Perhaps another time I can prove you wrong... Sir Wardes..." I said

"I look forward to it..." Replied Wardes with a smirk...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Ugh... might be the longest chapter I've written so far... maybe not... but meh...**

**Also the UNSC will actually appear in Harkaginia (I think that's what it's called, or at least that's what it sounded like when Wardes said it in episode ten...) until episode 13, or the finale of season one... you'll know it when you see it so don't worry... the plot is a-change-a-nin... slowly but surely **

**Since I've put all this time into writing this story for you guys, why not leave a review for me please? Telling me what you did and/or didn't like with maybe some tips and tricks if you feel it's necessary ... constructive criticism is welcome... also if you really did enjoy it, why not add it to your favorites, and follow it so that you can stay in the know of the updates... all of the above helps to keep me motivated to write these stories for you guys and it means allot to me... thanks guys, your all awesome! **

**WTYL :D**

**(Again, that means Write-To-You-Later) :D**


	11. First REAL Contact

**There's gonna have a nice battle scene against the Covies in this chapter :D enjoy.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I stood at the banister in front of the inn, overlooking the town. I sighed and thought about what Louise had said the other day. Was it true that I didn't work hard to get to my current position? Well... considering I was taking orders from a 15 year old brat, I found that statement, more than insulting... I sighed as I gazed at the setting sun, soon we'd be getting underway towards the pier and Albion. As I watched the sky I noticed a glimmer of purple... I put my helmet on.

"Cortana, zero in on that object over there..." I said and my HUD locked onto the purple dot in the sky and zoomed in on it. "Another Phantom?" sure enough it was a Covenant Phantom, it wasn't doing anything, simply flying across the sky... I raised an eyebrow as it landed in the distance... within walking distance of the town...

"Another Phantom..." I muttered "That's gotta be a coincidence..."

The inside of my helmet lit up purple as Cortana spoke "One's a coincidence... Two's a trend... rule eighty-nine Scorch..."

I wondered whether or not to investigate or not when...

"Scorch!" Said Louise from behind. "So this is where you've been..."

I furrowed my brow "It doesn't matter where I am!"

"Well... I... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry?"

Louise ran up to me and grabbed my shoulder "Yes... about yesterday... I'm really sorry... I... I knew you had worked hard, and lost much more then even Wardes could have lost... just... the girl who wanted to prove that Wardes was better then everyone got the better of me... I said it even though I knew it was false..."

I shoved her off "You think that's going to change anything?" I said "What's done is done..."

"Hmmf..." Louise huffed and started to walk away before she stopped and said something that made me want to run a certain noble man through... "Scorch... I've decided to marry Wardes..."

"What!?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I stood in place for at least an hour, not sure how to react to what Louise had said... I mean... should I be happy for her? Sure, maybe... but did I trust Wardes to look after her...? Not one bit! I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice Guiche behind me until he yelled at me.

"Alexander! What's the matter with you your never like this, we need to get going!" he said.

"Huh?" I looked at the sky "Oh right... big fuckin' deal..." I sighed

"Oh cheer up will you? C'mon!" we were about to head towards the pier when a rumbling caught our attention...

"What's that? An earthquake?" said Guiche...

"Guiche! Behind you!" I yelled and pointed at a huge rock formation climbing out of the ground... literally climbing!

"W-what the!? Is that a golem!?"

"No" I said "It's an oversized skipping stone... WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK!?" I yelled

"Well... if that's a golem, then that means-" Guiche was cut off by a female evil laugh, we both looked at the head of the golem... "F-Fouquet!"

I drew Derf in one hand, Magnum in the other... in hindsight I could have just shot her... but I guess it skipped my mind... Guiche was cowering behind me... fucking coward...

"What did you come here for Fouquet!?" I yelled

"I came to thank you" she thrust her hand forward and the golem reached out it's arm to attack "for putting me in prison!"

Nope! I cut the golem at the wrist, cleaving it's hand off, causing it to crumble back into dirt... I was amazed that this rusty old sword could actually do such a thing, but I guess it had something to do with magic or whatever...

"Well, well, not bad... try this!" she flicked her wand to the side and the golem reached towards a cliff side and the dirt and stone from the cliff were sucked towards the broken wrist and the golem re-formed it's hand.

Then Guiche, who had finally regain himself... said "I am a mage of earth too!" he whipped his rose at Fouquet's Golem and several of his Valkarie appeared. "GO!" and all Guiche's creations moved in to attack the golem... I shook my head... how did he call himself Guiche the Bronze if his alleged _Bronze _statues that fought for him were green... in other words, not bronze, but copper!

"Forget it... that's not going to help!" said Fouquet.

"Behold the powers of Guiche de Gramont!

A few moments later all his Valkarie had been reduced to bits and pieces of scrap metal... the last one was sent flying into Guiche, who fell over, giving his creation a nice kiss as he did so, I couldn't help but chuckle at his expense. There was hardly a scratch on the golem after that, I guess Guiche's creations were just that, all pretty with no power!

"Damnit! We can't beat it if it keep regenerating!" said Guiche

"You think I don't know that!?" I replied, when a fireball impacted the golem's left (it's left, not our left) leg, causing it to tumble momentarily before regenerating... "What the hell was that?" I said and looked up to the beating of wings... I saw a sleek blue dragon above us, mounted by two girls, one with blue hair like the dragon, while the other had a head of flaming red long hair.

"Kirche! Tabitha!" I said as they landed

"Alexander... heeeey" said Kirche "How ya been?" me and Guiche ran over towards Tabitha's dragon.

"Hey hold on!" Yelled Fouquet, who had fallen to the ground after that last attack. "It's awfully rude to ambush from the side like that..."

Kirche and Tabitha noticed Fouquet now, "Oh so it's that old thief again who's causing all the trouble huh?" said Kirche

"Where'd you get that" shot Fouquet "I'm only twenty-three, that's not old!"

"What's going on!?" yelled a distant voice and a torch light appeared from the path leading towards the village... the townsfolk and guardsmen had taken notice of the golem at last...

Fouquet turned back to us "Well I see I've outstayed my visit..." she laughed "Oh well... stalled you long enough... bye!" she flicked her wand and disappeared... golem returning to dust as she vanished.

"What the hell was all that about?" I muttered before Kirche and Tabitha approached us after dismounting the Sylphid.

"So where's that cute guy with the beard, what happened to him?" said Kirche... we then heard a loud sound, similar to a gong crossed with a horn...

"Wha-?" I started

"That's the boarding alarm! Our ship is leaving without us!" exclaimed Guiche and we all looked up... sure enough the ship was leaving... but it struck me as odd how it was flying... but at this point in my adventures in this world, I can't say I was surprised...

"Ok... it's flying, I don't get it, why call it a ship? Why not an airship, the term ship is misleading..." I said, then thought about how we called Spaceships just ships in my world and figured I was being hypocritical...

I ran back to the inn, with Guiche, Tabitha and Kirche all on my tail, I ran into the inn while they waited outside. I inquired to the innkeeper if he'd seen Louise and Wardes; I described them fairly well I think...

"Oh those two? They left a while ago... said the people they were waiting for headed back the way they came."

"That liar!" I said through gritted teeth... I now knew Wardes was an enemy... there was no doubt in my mind... the way Fouquet had said she'd stalled us, the way Wardes knew so much about me, the way he wanted to test my skills... the way he taunted me! It made sense now... I ran back outside to overhear Kirche and Guiche talking.

"So what about that guy with the beard? I can't stop thinking about him, it took me a whole day just to figure out where you guys went!" said Kirche

"Well, your persistent alright..." admitted Guiche

"And then once I actually find you guys your fighting some golem!" and Guiche just looked at her with a blank, un-amused expression.

I got Guiche's attention "Ok, so which way is the pier?" I asked

"Our ship already left, what good would that do?" he replied

"Well, we might as well figure out when the next ship is leaving... also... mind explaining a bit about Albion while we head there?" I said

"Well, Albion is a flying continent you know?"

"A flying continent?" Ok... flying ships... I could comprehend... but a flying continent... give me a fuckin' break!

"Yes" Said Guiche "You see, when the moons overlap each other" he pointed to the darkening sky "like tonight, that is when Albion gets closest to the main land..."

We walked further in silence until we reached the pier... which was just a enormous tree with platforms acting as loading docks... Kirche and Tabitha went up to check on the next flight while me and Guiche stayed at the bottom. "So why would Viscount Wardes want to leave us behind?"

"Fouquet is in on it too..." I said

"Fouquet?"

"That's what she said before she disappeared... she said she'd stopped us long enough..."

"HUH!? Fouquet is with the Viscount!? Is that what you're talking about!?"

"Seems that way... but either way, I'd say Louise is in allot of trouble right about now..."

I glanced back at the dock to see Kirche scurrying down the ramp. "Alexander!" she hummed "The next flight out isn't until dawn, that's around 12 hours from now... so... I guess we'll have to wait..."

"No good enough, we need to go now... Louise could be in trouble for all we know!" then an idea hit me. "How do you guys feel about hijacking an alien drop ship?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I sat on a sofa in one of the luxurious rooms on the vessel, pictures lined the room and a small rectangular brown table lay in front of the sofa me and Wardes were sitting on.

*Ting* the glasses clinked as Wardes held a toast... I'd been a bit disappointed about leaving Alexander behind... and... Guiche as well I guess... but... I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind...

"To my bride..." said Wardes

"Y-yes..." I nodded and Wardes put his glass down on a table.

"so tell me, where can we find Prince Wales?" asked Wardes, which I found a little odd that he hadn't been told, but I had been... but none the less I remembered something that the Princess had told me...

"Well... I'm not supposed to tell anyone until we are actually in Albion..." I said "I'm sorry..."

"Nah, never mind that's quite alright..." said Wardes "I understand that this is one of your missions after all!"

"I'm sorry" I said again

Wardes stood up without even touching his glass "We won't actually reach Albion for quite some time... why don't you get some rest until then?"

"Ok" I said, my voice growing timid... then Wardes left the room... as soon as the door shut I found myself thinking about Alexander... how I'd just left him... but also about how I felt, I knew this was how it was supposed to be... in my head... my head told me this was the right thing to do... but my heart said something else... but... this was right... I was doing what was right... this was how it should be... Lord Wardes is strong and kind, he's not a familiar and he's not a peasant... this is the way it was supposed to be... I lay down on the sofa and glanced out the window at the rising sun over Albion... we'd be there shortly... and when we did we'd head to a church on the outskirts of the port town we were landing at... I only hoped things went without a hitch...

Sadly it was not so...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Scorch's POV.**

Seven hours... that's how long it to track down the Covie Phantom I'd seen... it had landed in a clearing in the mountains, between two peaks. It's beautiful purple form gleamed in the sun rise, like a phantom... a real one, not the Covie troop carrier... sent shivers down my spine whenever I saw one of those... not of fear, but nostalgia, I'd blown up so many of those in my time that, well, it felt good to see one again, even if it was under the ownership of my enemy. Speaking of enemies... there were seven grunts; five infantry minors and two ultras, five jackals; two rangers and three infantry (shield wielding version) and four brutes; two infantry (un-armored version) and one major (Armor wearing). Aaaaand just to my luck there was a pair of Hunters guarding the Phantom... this was gonna be a problem...

Me, Guiche, Tabitha and Kirche were observing them from behind a rock on a hill overlooking their position... it looked like they were making camp or something, as three crates of Covie weapons were lined up next to a blue and purple fire, some sort of Covie campfire or something... and there was something everyone just referred to as _The nipple _which was what grunts ate from, next to the fire as well... with two grunt minors eating from it... I really never understood that...

I slid back down the rock to where the others were...

"Ok here's the plan" I whispered... "Kirche, your fire magic is the only type of magic that will actually harm brutes, so keep using that... what we're gonna do it, Tabitha, take Sylphid and neutralize the jackal ranger, they are the birdlike humanoids with the glowing face masks and long rifles, do that quickly or they will pick the rest of us off. Kirche you're gonna ride shotgun on the Warthog, use your fire magic to take down the shields of the Jackal infantry and Brutes... it might also have some affect on the Hunters, the giant blue armored beasts, if you heat their armor up it might kill the Lekgolo inside the shell. Fire magic I've noticed of late is very effective against energy shields."

I took a breath.

"Guiche, you're up on the Gauss Cannon, take out the Hunters and Brutes first, leave the grunts and jackals to us, target the bigger Covies first as a rule of thumb. Simply due to the fact that the Gauss Cannon is an anti-armor weapon so it is suited for taking down bigger targets. I'll be driving and keeping the Hog moving so it's up to you guys to take out those Covie bastards... maybe I can get a few splatters..." I grinned thinking about running over a few grunts which were nothing more than speed bumps when you drove a car this big..."

"Is there a backup plan?" Guiche asked

"Well, it's quite likely that if you don't take out the Hunters quick enough they might get a shot off on the Hog and take it down, if that happens bail out and engage the Covenant on foot, use all available cover and try not to die..." I said that last part _Try not to die _with such a cheery voice that the others looked nervously at each other...

"Ok then if your all set let's go!" I said and jumped into the driver's seat of the Warthog while Kirche got in the passenger seat and Guiche got on the gun. Tabitha took to the sky with Sylphid and flew over the Covies, I heard the snatching of a frail creature then a loud screech as the Jackal was dropped back to the ground. My signal to go, I hit the pedal and drove down the hill, while Guiche, who had already figured out how to fire the main gun, shot one round with pretty decent accuracy hitting a Brute Minor in the shoulder, blowing it's arm off causing it to bleed out quickly. Tabitha came back for another run, casting wind magic at two Jackal Infantry, causing them to stumble, exposing their bodies to us on the Warthog, I pulled out my pistol and found enough time to shoot and kill one Jackal before I had to use both hands to turn the Hog before we crashed into a rock cliff, coming back for another pass.

Kirche used her fire magic to collapse the shields of the two remaining Jackals while Guiche shot at the second Brute minor, only hitting near its feet causing minor concussive damage, blowing the Brute off his feet to the ground... but he got back up. I heard a loud thump and high pitched scream as the Hog lurched and the wheels were splattered with the glowing light blue blood of two Grunt Minors.

Kirche blasted two more Grunts with fire, sending them running away while they burned alive only to die seconds later... Tabitha made another run and fired shards of ice at the Jackals whose shields hadn't recharged yet, the ice ripped through them and their un-armored flesh. All the jackals were dead, we just had one Grunt Minor, Two Grunt Ultras, One Brute Minor, One Brute Major, and two Hunters left.

Guiche fired another round, hitting the last Grunt Minor, "Guiche!" I yelled "I told you to target the bigger ones!"

"Sorry" Guiche flipped his hair while holding onto the turret with one hand "but he was just standing there! I had to take the shot! It was too easy!" he replied, and I shrugged, nothing was more tempting, then an easy target... in my opinion anyways...

I pulled the hand brake to do 180 degree turn to head back towards the remaining Covies. Guiche blasted one of the Hunters, but the shot was blocked by the Hunter's giant arm shield. But it hit with enough force to put the Hunter on his ass, lowing his guard so that Kirche and a passing Tabitha could cast their magic on its exposed orange gut. With ice piercing and ripping through the orange worm colonies within the armored plating, while fire burned it to a crisp and cooked any unexposed _flesh_.

With the death of its bond brother, the other Hunter went into a rage, firing its arm counted Fuel Rod gun with no remorse towards us or his allies as a near miss hit a Grunt Ultra who was trying to EMP the Hog with a overloaded Plasma Pistol shot! It fired again and this time it got a lucky shot on the rear wheels, taking out the rear axle and sending the Hog onto its nose.

"Bail!" I ordered and Kirche and I jumped out of the seats while Guiche fell off in a panic but Kirche caught him bridal style which would have been laughable if not for the current situation...

"Guiche, Kirche, take care of that last Grunt and Brute, I'll deal with the Hunter!" I said as the two made for the Covie weapon crates for cover.

I charged at the Hunter full well knowing it's counter for such a target, it would charge back, swinging it's massive arm shield as a weapon... sure enough that's what it did, and it's what I wanted... once I saw the arm begin to swing I jumped, landing on the Hunter's shield and used it to springboard vault over him. Doing a 360 in the air whipping out my M6G magnum and firing a few shots while I was in the air, scoring three hits in the exposed worm colony. I landed and switched to my MA5B, ran and unloaded half my clip into its backside killing the slow beast...

I looked over at what Guiche and Kirche were doing... to see Guiche run up to the last Grunt and shotgun it in the face... not a bad kill for someone so green... a nice humiliation kill by the looks of it...

"Scorch!" Yelled Kirche and I looked where she was pointing... the last Brute, and last Covie, was getting into the Phantom... and with the Warthog out of service we had no way to keep him from taking off...

"Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche get over here!" I yelled and ran over to the Covie weapon racks and once Tabitha landed, the Phantom started to take off... "Take these" I gave them all Plasma Pistols...

"Squeeze the handle to fire, hold it up long enough to overcharge it, then once they are over charged, fire at the Phantom... the combined EMP charge should be enough to disable it temporarily without permanent damage...!"

It was simple instructions so I figured they couldn't screw up... thankfully I was proven right, as the combined four Plasma blasts hit the Phantom's engines as it tried to fly away bringing it down again not to far away.

"Tabitha, call get Sylphid we need to move now!" I said and we all jumped on Tabitha's dragon and flew over to where the Phantom had been forced to land... I saw a small cliff overlooking the Phantom.

The Brute who had tried to flee was outside banging on the engines trying to bring them back online... "Drop me on that cliff" I said and I jumped off as Tabitha landed her dragon right above the Brute... I drew my combat knife... holding a finger to my faceplate in a _shhh _motion...

I crept to the edge of the cliff and lined myself up... I whistled sharply and the Brute turned around just in time for him to see me land on him pushing him onto his back and plunge my knife into his neck, ripping out his trachea. I turned back up to the others, wiped the blood off my visor and signaled for them to come down...

"So why didn't we just take Sylphid all the way to Albion?" Guiche asked.

"To much weight for such a long journey" Replied Tabitha with her usual emotionless tone...

I stepped up to the Phantom and hit a button on the side of the purple beetle like ship and the troop bay doors on both sides swung open. I entered and found my way to the cockpit. The others entered after I confirmed it was safe and closed the doors...

I sat down at in the pilot's position... "Erm..." I pondered what button to press first...

Guiche came up behind me, overhearing my moment of question... "Are you implying you don't even know how to fly one of these!?" he exclaimed

"Well... truth be told I didn't think we'd find one in working condition..." I replied... "so no... I'm trained in Pelican, Falcon, Saber, Longsword, and Hornet control... kinda know how to fly a Banshee simply cuz those are really simple... but a Phantom..." I paused and then in awe I simply stated "So... many... buttons..."

"How about this one?" Guiche asked and pressed a large red button.

"Guiche no!" to late... the engine weered to life... "Oh... ok that works..."

"You know" Cortana said through my suit's speakers "You could just give me a minute to interface with the ship's controls right?"

"Oh right..." I said "Um..."

"OK, yank me." Said Cortana and I reached back and pulled her chip out of my helmet and put it into the ship's AI drive. "Alright... Engines powered up... navigation systems online... primary weapon online... shields offline... gravity lift online... alright... checklist complete... bringing her up."

I got out of the pilot's seat and headed back to the troop bay. Sylphid flew away once we'd gotten onto the ship since there would be no room for her. Kirche and Tabitha were both standing on opposite sides of the troop bay holding onto the handles that dropped down from the ceiling.

"So" I said "Do we even know where we will find Louise and Wardes?"

"No..." replied Tabitha.

I paused to think for a moment before heading back into the cockpit. "Hey Cortana"

Cortana's purple avatar flickered to life on a holo-emitter in the center of the cockpit "Yeah?"

"Is there any way to track down Louise or Wardes' trail?" I asked

"If we head to the port they landed at we might be able to pick up a clue, if not there is a slim chance we will find some sort of bio-chemical reading that I can follow... you know, similar to how police dogs work by tracking criminals by their sent?"

"OK... but..."

"Before you ask, I projected the ship's flight trajectory, and with the weather conditions I've calculated the most likely spot they would have landed at..." a NAV waypoint popped up on the _windshield _of the Phantom.

"Thanks Cortana..."

"Don't mention it! it's what I'm here for!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I'd just gotten out of my meeting with Prince Wales Tutor of Albion, concerning the letter I was supposed to retrieve... I left the candle lit room and closed the door behind me... I stared at the door for a while, then from my left I heard; "So that is the letter in question?"

I was surprised and I turned to see Lord Wardes standing there... he approached me "That means you've finished your mission..." he reached me and put a hand on my shoulder... "Louise I've been meaning to ask your thoughts on this, but I was thinking of asking the prince to perform our marriage!"

"The prince!?" I asked in shock "But then the wedding would have to be right here wouldn't it?"

"It would be fine, I'm sure the prince would be happy to oblige us..."

"I-I can't!" I exclaimed and broke free from his grasp to go stand against a nearby column supporting the building's overhand/undercover area... "I still have to return to Tristain and report to the princess..."

"No you don't..." and I yelped as Wardes grabbed me from behind "I'm afraid I need you right here... or rather, Reconquista does..."

"Reconquista!?" I exclaimed "But... then... that means... Wardes!?"

"My dear Louise you needn't worry about a thing, just follow me..." he said with a sinister tone.

"Your deluded!" I yelled "I'm not gonna marry you after that, get away from me!" and I broke free from his grip and started to run, only to bump into the most retarded looking man in the history of Halkenginia... aside from Scarron that is...

"There's no way you can escape..." he said "Miss descendant of the Void!" he held up a hand with a purple ring on it, which started to glow... it was then that I began to lose consciousness to the point where I wanted to pass out, but my body wouldn't let me. I felt so tired that I just wanted to obey whatever command was given to me just to get whatever task it was I had to do over with so I could sleep... or at least that's what it felt like... probably that was the psychology behind it all... but at the same time, I wanted to resist... a small part of me knew I was heading for disaster if I kept obeying the commands of the one wielding this ring...

I don't remember much of what happened after that, but I scarcely remember later that evening, me and Wardes were exchanging vows... he had just said his part, then it was my turn... I didn't want to... but something was trying to force the words out of my mouth...

"Pardon the bride, but she seems to be a bit nervous" said Wardes

"No, I understand perfectly..." replied the Prince, with no knowledge as to how much danger he was in... "I'll just ask again... Miss Valliere... do you take this man to love forever, to be by his side for the rest of your life? Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?"

'no, no, no!' I thought "I d-"

The doors of the Church were blown open and I heard one word which snapped me out of my stupor...

"LOUISE!" I turned around recognizing the voice.

"Scorch!?" I asked, sure enough I saw Scorch standing there with his DMR pointed at Wardes...

"Move so much as a centimeter and I'll blow yer fuckin' brains out Wardes!" he yelled

"What!? The binding has been broken!?" Wardes said a little too loud...

"What's the meaning of this?" said Prince Wales "Guards, arrest this man!" he pointed to Wardes.

"Wait your highness you don't understa-" to late... Wardes had moved and shoved his foil into the Prince's heart... Scorch had fired a shot but missed... one of the few shots I'd seen him ever miss...

"Damn you, Reconquista..." muttered the Prince who fell over, dying..."

"PRINCE NO!" I screamed and knelt next to him "I'll never marry you now Wardes!"

"Wardes, you bastard! You'll not get away with that!" Scorch yelled and fired a few more times at Wardes, but... his shots were deflected by Wardes blocking them with his now glowing sword... Scorch looked almost as surprised as I was...

"You think you can beat me that easily? When we fought earlier, I had been holding back..." taunted Wardes who used a gale wind spell to put Scorch on his back, he quickly leveled his foil to Scorch's neck... I turned back to the Prince who had slipped something into my hand with his last breath... his hand then left mine and he didn't move again...

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"How dare you... you trick Louise like that, and for what!? You own gain! Your just a sick fuck who benefits at other people's losses... how dare you take advantage of Louise's feelings and trust in you!"

"HA! A love that will never be! How pathetic..." said Wardes... then something strange happened, Scorch's hand started to glow through his armored hand... "No... Not love... loyalty..." Scorch gripped Wardes's foil with both hands and bent it in a _U _so that it pointed back at Wardes... "I don't have _any _family... I hardly have any friends... I have no concept of peasantry or nobility...

"That's it partner, just a little more!" said Derf as Scorch stood up and drew him.

"I don't give a rat's ass about your fucking arranged marriages or petty political struggles for naught but personal gains! This world makes not fucking sense to me! All I know is this... I'm Louise's Familiar!" The rust broke off of Derflinger's body and revealed a gleaming, razor sharp steel blade underneath the old rust.

Wardes scoffed and threw aside his second foil and drew a simple wand and cast thunder at him... which to both mine and Wardes's surprises was absorbed by Derflinger as Scorch blocked with him...

Scorch glared back at Wardes "Now you cocksucker... your through!" he yelled and charged at Wardes, deflecting another spell which was sent into a wall, shattering it making a hole in the wall... when Scorch reached Wardes he slashed and rolled past him... "Today you die!"

Wardes fell to his knees, clutching his side... "Well... at least I finished two of the three objectives I'd set out to do..."

"Objectives?" I asked

"One... was to ensure Prince Wales was dead... and the second..." Wardes held up his hand... in it was a letter... I recognized it as the letter I was supposed to return to the princess... but before I could do anything a pigeon flew in from the hold that had been blasted in the side of the building and snatched the letter away... "The third one... was you Louise... and I refuse to FAIL!" he yelled... and cast a fire spell towards the roof... "If I can't have you... I'll bury you and that legend once and for all..." once the fireball made impact with the ceiling the whole building burst into flames as if it was covered in pitch **(A/N: Pitch is a medieval type of oil used for lighting fires, flaming arrows, and ditches to set aflame to defend a castle or boiled and poured on attacking enemies.)** But... after that happened all I heard was a loud crack and saw bits of brain matter explode out of Wardes's forehead, who fell dead... I looked over to see Scorch with a smoking DMR... he looked back at me.

"Well... it's about time for extraction..." he said and pulled out his assault rifle and shot the ceiling right above us, bringing the rafters down on us... I screamed and blacked out... when I woke up... I was being held in hard, but warm arms... I opened my eyes and saw my Familiar... Scorch holding me... "It's alright Lousie" he pulled away from me... "You're safe now... and that's all that matters..." he grinned, his helmet rested on his lap...

I looked around noticing we were in some strange glowing room, with the sides open so we could see out into the night sky... the room flew with amazing speed so I figured it must have been some kind of ship... then I cried a bit and did something I hadn't planned on... I ended up kissing him, which made him reel back a bit...I guess he found it awkward that I had done that... but... I couldn't help myself... I'm gonna keep telling myself that it was due to my feelings being all messed up at the time, I don't know...

I heard a female voice come from every corner of the room... "Five minutes until we return to the Academy... standby for drop off... oh... by the way... to Scorch... the engine's power core is overheating, it's actually so bad right now that we won't be able to take off again unless you find a replacement..."

"Damnit... just when I'd found a fast, quiet, luxurious and incognito way of traveling..." joked Scorch with heavy sarcasm... "Well... I did mean fast to be honest... but that's it..." he walked to edge of the room and onto a balcony with a turret on it... I followed him and then realized this was a Phantom... I'd seen them in the dreams I'd had about Reach... Scorch and the others must have stolen this...

Scorch glanced down at the Academy which was not emerging beneath the clouds... "Well..." he said "Mission..." he hesitated "Failed..." he sighed "I'll take you into town on the Warthog in the morning to give your report to the Princess... then... well... then I've got some inventory to take..." he looked at the back of the troop bay of the Phantom... where three racks of the most out of this world weaponry were stored... weapons I recognized of those of the Covenant...

"More weapons huh?" I chuckled "Figures... you and your guns..."

Scorch chuckled back "What can I say... that's what I'm all about! guns, guns, guns! That's me! And..." it looked like he was about to make another joke but he stopped and seemed to get all sad... "Knives... no... That was Emile's thing..."

I walked over to the weapon racks, leaving Scorch to his thoughts... I looked over the weapons as I heard Scorch mutter to himself. "Kat was her computers and hardware... Jun was his snipers and silencers... Jorge was his machine gun that he loved so much... Carter was his ships... and me..." he paused and looked at his DMR... with nearly so many tally marks that it looked like an unreadable rabble of scribbles and scratches... he sat down and began to disassemble his gun for probably more than the hundredth time since he'd gotten here alone, and began to clean, and count his ammo... I turned back to the weapons and sighed... how was I going to explain this all to the Princess?

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**There we go, the chapters are getting longer huh!? Well then, not much more to say other then the 6000 word barrier had been hit right NOW! Haha! Epic timing is epic and convenient! Anyways...**

**Two thing to say,**

**One is... Warning, next chapter there WILL be a lemon... I will not disclose who it is between, but yes, it does involve Scorch... that's all I will say, but not to worry... I've put multiple warnings in the chapter so that those who wish to skip it can do so easily. :D**

**And lastly of course, is... since I put so much time into writing this fic and chapter for you guys, why not leave me a review on what you did, or didn't like, with constructive criticism welcome! Also, if you really liked it, why not add it to your faves and follow it, so that you can be in the know of future updates? All of the above help me out allot to stay motivated to write this story (And trust me, it doesn't take allot for me to get motivated with this one!)**

**Thanks guys! WTYL as usual :D**


	12. No! Bad Maid! Bad!

**-THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH HIGHLY MATURE SUBJECT MATTER, READER DISCRESION IS ADVISED-**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Louise's POV**

I gave the Princess the Ruby of Water and Wind... kneeling before her I gave my report... "I gave him the letter... but Wardes took the prince's life in front of my very eyes..."

"I'm afraid I bear the biggest responsibility for all this... I didn't see Wardes for what her truly was..." said Henrietta and I started to cry... "there now, lift up your head... Louise François..." I raised my tear stained face to see tears also pouring down the Princess's face... "Thank you for delivering this final memento and his will..." she hugged me "thank you very much... Louise..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

***Execute theme song* (Still Louise's POV by the way)**

I exited the palace to find Scorch still waiting for me, sitting in his repaired Warthog, he'd replaced the wheel with an entirely steel wheel and covered it in a material called rubber... to make a set of mismatched wheels... however since he had to jury rig the transmission and wheels he removed the M41 LAAG from the back so it was just a flatbed, as the new dampers and shock absorbers wouldn't be able to carry the weight as efficiently and slow the Hog down.

He was laying in the driver's seat all causal like with his feet propped up on the dashboard and arms behind his head... his MJOLNIR helmet was on but I guessed his eyes were closed since he didn't notice me approaching him. I tapped his shoulder...

"Hmm?" he mumbled and looked over at me "Oh... so... how did the report go?" I think he noticed my face was red from crying... "Not well?" he guessed.

"Not that... just... emotional..." I said

"Well... get on... we need to head back and tell Headmaster Osmond about the previous events..." I got into the passenger seat of the Warthog and Scorch took off out of town... "You know..." continued Scorch "I've lost many men before... but I had to carry on without them... how else to ensure their lives and deaths were not in vain? Prince Wales may be dead, but his spirit carries on with the survivors... that is you and me... we need to carry on, and make sure his death meant something, make sure he didn't die in vain..."

"Thank you for those words..." I said "But... Wardes..."

"You're upset about him? What, about me killing him?" asked Scorch and I furrowed my brow

"Oh hell no, that bastard had it coming... I should thank you for killing him... it's something I don't know it I would have had the strength and courage to do when the time came..."

"Well then, your welcome... I guess..."

We continued in silence until we reached the academy... "Hey... uh..."

"hmm?"

"Well, it's... it's been a long trip and I... I was wondering if while I was giving my report if you could get me a clean pair of clothing for once I was done..." I asked hesitantly... but to my surprise...

"Sure... I can understand that... it'll be ready for you when you're done... I'll just grab some dirty old stuff then bring it back up once I've finished with it. 'aight?"

"Thanks..." we entered the front gate of the academy and Scorch backed into the specially made stall built into the stables for the Warthog, almost running Montmorency over in the process.

"Hey where'd you learn to ride like that!?" she said

"Sorry, I'm just so used to driving in a warzone that I don't care who's in the way... usually the marines around me are smart enough to just dive out of the way when they see a Spartan at the wheel and forget about it... it's not like I'm intentionally trying to hit you or- " **(A/N: The following sentence has been cut out due to the predicted number of people it would offend, or simply have a bad sense of humor...) **

"OK, but what would that have anything to do with it?" Monmon asked

"Well... it's just a stereotype from my home... they are supposed to be bad drivers but... well... considering I've almost been run over numerous times by them... well... they aren't ALL bad... just the old ladies in particular."

"Riiiiiight..." Montmorency rolled her eyes and walked away...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I entered Mr. Osmond's office to find Mr. Osmond and Colbert talking about something, something I'd just missed the details of from the sound of it...

"Oh hello Miss Valliere..."

I didn't respond at first "Do you have a minute" I said to Mr. Osmond... then realized that I had been spoken to "Oh hi Mr. Colbert... um... I came to give you my report..."

"Alright then..." Said Mr. Osmond who then turned to Mr. Colbert "Vacation approved..." he waved his staff and a feather pen flew over and signed the papers in front of Mr. Osmond on his desk... "How long do you think you will be gone?"

"I'm heading to the village of Tarbes and so I should be getting back before the solar eclipse at the latest..." Mr. Colbert bowed "now then if you'll excuse me..." and he turned around and walked past me, out the door, closing it...

"So... Mr. Colbert is taking some time off?" I asked

"He thinks he's found the location of the Legendary Dragon." Replied Mr. Osmond, taking a tug from his pipe, before blowing the smoke out.

"Legendary dragon?"

"Well last time he went off searching for some legendary something he almost got lost in the middle of the ocean! I'm really not expecting that much..." he sighed "Well, never mind that... let's hear that report shall we?"

I clenched my fists due to nervousness... "O-ok..." I said

Once I'd given my full report Mr. Osmond laced his hands together and sighed "Ah... Reconquista... it sounds like this could get rather troublesome..." he looked up at me with a brighter tone "Thank you for all your hard work, why don't you take a vacation?"

"Umm... Lord Osmond?" I said, still with a few questions on my mind, one in particular however... "Have you ever heard anything about... the descendants of the void?" once I'd finished my sentence Mr. Osmond's eyes got a mysterious gleam to them and he raised an eyebrow. "W-well... my memories are a little unclear right now, and I don't remember who called me that... but... I am certain of the term used..."

"The Void is the long lost legendary element of magic..." explained Mr. Osmond.

"Legendary?!" I gasped "well... if it's amazing magic like that... or then again if it's even simple magic... I... um..."

"You don't have to go into details" said Osmond, raising a hand to silence me. "But if all this is really true... then Gandalfr is real..."

"Did you say Gandalfr?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

After Mr. Osmond had explained what he knew about Gandalfr to me, I returned to my room, and, like Scorch had promised, there was a clean set of clothing on my bed for me, but he wasn't here at the moment... I shrugged and started to change...

"So, Scorch is a legendary familiar?" I muttered to myself "I don't see how that's possible... but..." I heard the door to my room open and Scorch stepped in.

"I'm back... I was just finishing up with your stuff..."

"Ahh!" I yelped and quickly pulled my shirt over my head.

"Hey what's your problem?" he asked

"I told you, it was a long trip and I'm filthy! I was just changing clothes!" I said and then I noticed him roll his eyes...

He put the remaining laundry on my little round table in the center of my room... he looked at my bed. "Ah... I see there is more... I suppose you want that done as well?" he sighed... then the stubborn master in me got the better of me.

"Yes there is and if you so much as want any dinner you'll do it!" I said sharply

He rolled his eyes again. "Whatever..." he said then muttered something under his breath that I didn't hear...

'How can you go back to the way it was like that?' I thought 'I thought we really connected last night...' then a voice snapped me out of my thoughts...

"Hey cheer up a little..."

"huh?" I looked as Scorch

"I mean, loosen up a little would ya, I told you already, people die in this world all the time, don't let shit get in the way of your life, it's best to acknowledge what happened, but move on... if you stay stuck on one negative event your whole life then you're not going to progress anywhere! Understand what I'm sayin'?"

I blushed a bit. "Scorch I-" I heard a snap and felt something drift down my legs, I noticed Scorch had an expression of _Oh-My-God, What-The-Fuck-Just-Happened _plastered on his face...

"When I said loosen up, I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed while all I was doing was processing what was going on... processing... processing... processing... processing... processing... realization...

Once the realization hit me and the high pitched shriek had passed I fully clothed myself and sat down on my bed examining the panties which had slipped down my legs... "This thing is completely shot..."

Scorch leaned in to look as well "huh... your right... that elastic is done for... hmmm..." he put a hand to his chin "I wonder if that's what happened?"

"You were saying?" I glared at him...

"Oh nothing..." he said and I reached for my whip drawer only to find there were no whips... "hey!?"

I heard a snap and dared to glance back towards Scorch... who had all seven of my remaining whips, cracking them all in his hands... "So..." he said "What was that about a whip?" he snapped all of them in half and chucked them out the window... then pulled out a glowing stun baton with a purple electrical aura around it...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Well that had been fun... a few zaps with a stun baton did wonders to Louise's attitude... however she did seem a bit shocked... haha... at what just happened... so I left her room and found that old pot that I'd used at a hot tub one day and leaned against it, with Derf at my side and Cortana on my shoulder...

"Pfft, and after everything we've been through... what a brat!" I thought about when she kissed me... for the second time... "Ugh... she doesn't seem to take the hint that I don't think about her that way... I don't!" I declared

"You don't what?" said a timid voice from behind me, and I turned around and saw Siesta in a white shirt and red skirt, holding a luggage bag of some sort...

"Oh, Siesta! What's with the get up?" I said, which was probably rude, it's just that I was so used to seeing her in a maid's outfit that seeing her in normal civilian's clothing was a little... strange...

She sat down with her back against the giant pot, and I followed her example. "They are letting me have some time off, so I'm going back to my home village for a vacation..."

"Back home huh?" I said "Must be nice... having a home to go back to at least..." I probably did a horrible job on hiding how depressed that statement made me feel... "Wait a minute! Siesta, didn't you say you were from another world?"

"Well... actually, that was my Great, great, great, great, great Grandfather who was from another world, the story was that he flew in from that world in the company of two dragons! Then one of them disappeared while the one he was riding had to land for some reason."

"Two dragons?" I asked "I don't suppose you could..." I thought about the strange blood I'd seen in Mr. Colbert's lab... then it hit me. "Siesta! I need you to take me to your home village! I want to go!"

"O-ok... but... why?"

"This dragon... do you know where it is?"

"It's supposed to be a family heirloom and it's enshrined somewhere nearby... wait, you don't suppose!?"

"Maybe... that's why I want to find out..." I said, and Siesta nodded and took my hand and lead me to the stables. She went to go get a horse but I stopped her and nodded to my Warthog... to which she cocked her head having never seen it until now. I lead her over and helped her into the passenger seat, then got into the driver's seat and started it up... I'd managed to repair it to some extent... but since I had to make the wheels and new drive-train out of makeshift parts and materials I had to removed the turret due to the weight being too much for the new dampers to handle... also I had no glass, so the windshield was punched out... also the front wheels were missing their hubcaps and the rear bumper was missing... the nose had a bunch of scratches on it as well and the left headlight was busted... that just meant that this baby had seen good action! And if she was still going after all that, well, I consider that lucky! Especially since I break almost every vehicle I touch pretty quickly! I laughed as I thought back to a time when I'd almost drove a Revenant over a cliff while trying to avoid a plasma mortar from a Wraith, only for it to ram into a tree next to it and cause the engine to malfunction and overheat, leading to its explosion anyways... good times...

About 30 minutes later we were driving along a riverside, with a forest across said river, and the hills on the opposite side of the road.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Siesta asked

"What do you mean?" I replied

"I mean, you didn't even bother to ask Ms. Valliere..."

"Bah!" I scoffed "The brat can live a day without me!"

"Oh... ok..."

After another ten minutes we'd reached the outskirts of Tarbes, Siesta's home town... I stopped the Warthog at the top of the hill overlooking the village... I sat in the Hog reminiscing for a moment...

"It's pretty..." I said "quaint even... reminds me of Harvest in a way..."

"Harvest?" she asked and glanced at me from the passenger's seat... then looked away from me sheepishly... I guess she remembered the picture I'd shown her the first day I'd met her, of a Harvest both before and after glassing. Then she perked back up with a smile, her hair _floofed _a little as well... **(A/N: Floof is a real word! Look it up1!1! [Actually don't I have no clue what will come up... and I lied... I made it up... I think...])** "Hey why don't you come down with me to see my folks? I'd like to introduce you to them."

"Sure, I don't see why not..." I flipped through my Tacpad and switched to my grey fatigues.** (A/N: If you know what the UNSC marine's outfit without any armor plating, the leather necked ones, from HALO:CE, look like, then you know what I'm talking about, it's just really hard to explain)**

I drove the Hog down, and to where Siesta directed me to... her home apparently... it wasn't the biggest or nicest to look at... but it had the basics covered... merely a small one story house with a thatched roof and simple stone walls and a wooden door with the basic four pane windows, with the pane separators hewn from light wood. Siesta led me in and her father was standing in the center of the room, he didn't notice us until Siesta coughed lightly. "Father!" she said

"Hmm?" The man turned around, he had short but flat black hair and the same colored eyes as Siesta, he wore a tan shirt with a brown vest overtop with brown leggings. All of it was made from either wool, cloth or leather... nothing fancy about this guy, his beard was also a little ragged, like he hadn't shaved in a while...

"Ah, Siesta!" he said and hugged his daughter "So nice to see you again after all this time away!"

"Father! I'm so happy to see you again! How's everyone else?" Siesta asked, returning the hug.

I was busy looking around the house from behind Siesta... it was pretty typical I guess... it had about maybe four or five rooms, all of small size, the main room was all I could see and it was basically a combination of a kitchen, dining room and living room, with a table near the fireplace at one end, with the cooking supplies and utensils and tools at the other end... next to what I assumed was a basin for hand washing dishes was an open door leading out to a farmer's field...

"Well the others are all out in the field working... I only came in to look for my damned keys to the shed out back..." he said, then noticed me "Ah, and I see you brought a man with you."

"Excuse me, sir?" I asked and raised an eyebrow

He walked a circle around me while scratching his beard. "He's got an amazing build Siesta... and his manners seem like those affiliated with nobles..." he laughed kind heartedly "Siesta you've found a wonderful guy! I'm sure you'll bear many children!"

My face turned plasma red as I realized what he was talking about "W-w-what!?" I gulped

Siesta too had a beet red face... "F-father! He's just a friend!" she exclaimed, looking like she wanted to pass out.

"Y-yes sir... I... I... I think I'll step outside for the moment..." I stepped outside and I'm pretty sure that anyone in the village could hear the "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!?" that came out my mouth... then I walked back in all casual like as if nothing happened...

"Did you hear something?" I asked and Siesta and her father just looked at me with raised eyebrows...

"A-anyways, father..." said Siesta, "This is Alexander, he's a friend from the academy... no he's not a noble... but, he says he has a similar back story as to Great, great, great, great, great Grandfather! And would like to see the dragon that he supposedly rode in on..."

"Hmmm..." Siesta's father scratched his beard again "Well, I'd love to help, but I'm afraid I don't even know where it is... there is hint in the old map in the shed, but I don't know where the keys are..."

I glanced thought for a moment, before secretly searching through my Tacpad and finding an experimental armor ability labeled _Promethean Vision_ and turned it on... I saw a small green glowing item in a nearby hay stack next to the main fireplace... I ruffled through the haystack and pulled out something, I turned off P. Vision and held it up... it was a key alright... "Would this be it?" I asked

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Siesta's POV**

So we'd entered the shed, found the old map and headed towards the forest to start our search... I unrolled the map and began looking for the location of this _robe of the dragon... _

"Ok, so we are supposed to be here... yeah?" Alexander asked and pointed to a small hut on the map which marked Tarbes.

"Well, more like near there... maybe here..." I pointed out

"Alright... I still can't believe you're from one of the Earth Systems... the Sol system to be exact I recognize this writing as maybe twenty or twenty-first century dialogue... maybe I'll figure out what country you originated from when we find this robe?" He replied

"Actually I recognized that" said Cortana, his, as he explained, suit's AI, whatever that was... "Anyways, I need to charge so I'm shutting down for an hour... wake me when you need me..."

"It would be nice to figure out my background... you said there were many countries on earth?" We'd talked about some of the worlds and systems from the place that Alexander had originated from, but he'd never quite gone into detail about _The Homeworld _as he put it.

"Tons! I believe there still is... Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Greece, China, Russia, U.S.A or United States, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, Egypt, Malaysia, Korea, Philippines and more!"

"Wow, that sounds amazing! I'd like to go there someday..."

"I think you'd enjoy it, now that there is no war there."

"Well to be honest, Mr. Alexander... I already enjoy it here!" I bet I blushed when I said that.

"Please, Siesta, I told you to stop adding the _Mister_ title to my name, makes me feel more important then I really am... flattering... but not necessary, we're equals Siesta!"

"O-ok... Alexander..." I stuttered

"There see? Wasn't that easy?"

"Yeah..." Oh... Mist- I mean Alexander was so nice to me... I could tell he'd had feelings for Madam Louise but he'd denied it saying _I love her, like I love a really annoying cousin... and I hope it becomes nothing more than that... _however there was a doubt in my heart, a doubt that made we think 'if I could get to him first... not only would that improve my chances... then at least I had the boasting rights...' I guess that's a crude way to think about it... I mean... I love him, but I don't know how to go about saying that... I wondered if I should wait till later... but then again... there was no one around, no Miss Louise... that was the main part of it all. I hesitated...

"Well, c'mon, I want to get moving before the day is over, haha" he started to stand up, but I decided now was the time to move in. Before he got up I leapt onto him and kissed him.

He backed up, pulling his face away from mine "Siesta what are you doing?!" he demanded.

"I-I can't help it... I... I need this... I... I" Was now a good time to go for it? Luckily I didn't have to finish, as Alex came back for more. Our lips met once again and I was loving every second of it... he was strong... as I'd seen when we shared a bath together a few nights ago. I don't know how I managed the strength, or if he was just playing weak, but I managed to push him down so that I lay on top of him.

**-THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH(S) ARE DEALING WITH SEX/BORDERLINE SEX, SKIP, OR READ WITH CAUTION-**

**PS: The scene will change back and forth between Him & Her/ Her & Her/ Him & him... (But the yaoi will never happen in my fics, just saying... I've got a problem with it... and I don't think the anime here is a good one for Yaoi anyways...)**

**Anyways, if you don't want to read this then just scroll down until the next line break**

* * *

As I lay on top of him I reached around to the back of his head, flicking his cap off in the process, no one needed to know about the events which were about to transpire.

"You know what I want?" I whispered in his ear.

"W-what?" He stuttered, I remembered he told me he knew very little about romance and... sex... if not absolutely nothing... me on the other hand knew my fair share, mostly from books and my close cousin who works at some inn and bar over in the city.

"Just follow my lead... ok?" and he gulped then nodded back.

I reached down for his belt buckle, while he sat up, I let him put his back up against a tree... once I'd gotten the buckle off, I pulled down his pant a bit, along with any underwear that may have been there. He was huge! Then again I've got nothing to compare it to so... I am assuming it was huge... I thought he said that Spartans had sexual defects... it sure didn't look like it...

From there I only did what my cousin had said was the way to start... I licked his hard thing, making him quiver, he was sensitive... good...

Whatever the case, I licked up along the length of his dick up to the tip where I licked in circles around it before sticking it in my mouth. I only stuck it in a quarter of the way at first, then pulled off to lick his tip some more. After a few moments I was able to take it halfway, then over half and eventually all the way... I don't know whether lust was clouding my thoughts but the taste was great and the feeling of it being in my mouth was... invigorating... probably the wrong word to describe the feeling but I digress...

**Scorch's POV**

Ok, I'll admit it... this was... a shock to me... what started out with Siesta kissing me had grown into her sucking my dick! Sure I wasn't upset with her... I mean... c'mon... how could you be upset with someone as cute as her... (Well, there's Louise but she's a different story...)

This feeling I was getting of this cute maid doing the cleaning on _my _pipes was... indescribable... I can't even begin to explain the feeling... as well... this had never happened to me before... **(A/N: Yeah... and it won't be the last, this fic, or any other you're in bro)** she pulled off me and looked up at me with her eyes, barely moving her head from its position at my dick. Her shoulder length black hair coupled with her dark eyes was... adorable... something I never thought I'd say... adorable... there I said it again, but I digress...

I put my hands over her head and ran my fingers through her hair as she worked on me, my member was twitching, I could easily feel that much... (Why am I even sharing my sex stories? **A/N: Cuz you get paid for it? **Oh right... wait... **A/N: No, you're not a- **I better fuckin' not be!) after a bit the excitement got overwhelming... If I thought I could never feel better, then I was about to be proven wrong.

**Siesta's POV **

I couldn't take the excitement anymore, I pulled off him and pulled his pants the rest of the way down... I also proceeded to shed the majority of my clothing... and since peasants aren't the type to wear underwear... well... there wasn't anything hiding after that... I blushed hard when Alexander basically went bug-eyes... but he shook it off.

I sat down on my knees, with my hands on his chest. He was still sitting against the tree while I was on my knees in front of him. I positioned his hard thing at my entrance, today I became I real woman... or so said my cousin...

I inched down onto him, before just plunging down. "Ah-ah-aahaaaa!" I screamed and planted my face on his chest. Blood seeped out my vagina and I cried a bit... my cousin never told me it hurt like this...

"It hurt..." I whined. But Alexander seemed to ignore me, he just kissed me and let his hands drift along my body. His hands made their way up to my breasts, one of the now four things I had better then Ms. Valliere. But not only had I managed to lose my virginity, I also took his! **(A/N: Believe me when I say that, that is a BIG feat to be the first ever to... well you can read what Siesta said can't you?)**

The pain subsided and I felt strongly pleasured, he had started moving around inside me, he stretched my pussy a bit, with long, hard, thick thing...

"Ah... ah... ah... AH... ah, hah, ah, ahah!" I moaned "Yes... yes... fuck me... ah!"

Whenever he'd thrust into my body I'd make these little yelps or moans... this was a night... or day, sorry, to remember...

**Scorch's POV**

Remember how I said it couldn't get any better? Well I was proven wrong... as soon as Siesta had let me into her little pussy I felt like it was going to end right then and there. But it didn't which I'm now glad for... her cute little pussy was dripping with her juice and whenever I'd hit her deep she'd yelp or moan. This one time I had brushed her cervix and she had yelped loudly. If this what sex was like on a regular basis... and if Siesta was up for it, I wouldn't mind doing this again. But after a while of penetration I heard her moaning increase in pace and then she gasped out loud and I felt her little hole clench down a bit on my dick, having a bit of a spasm around it while more of her juice flowed out... then I felt it as she twitched on me.

**Siesta's POV**

I did it... he did it... he drove me to orgasm, my first one which wasn't self-induced... my vagina pulsed on his dick and I could feel every crease and every detail of it, I could feel it pulsing... expanding a bit... I bobbed up on him a little more trying to get that last bit of pleasure out of me... well, instead it came to me again.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I gasped in a high-pitched voice as I felt something hot flow into me... I'd made him come... but... but I didn't mean for him to come inside me... I started to worry...

"Alex! I... I didn't want it inside me!" I said

"Oh shit!" he said and reached for his glowing blue arm-band... he managed to reach it and scrolled through a list... "I swear if there is some of this shit in here..." he paused and a grey potion appeared in his hand. "Ok... every day I start to think more and more that this whole, _Suck-me-into-a-alternate-world-and/or-far-off-plan et _thing was all devised my ONI..." he gave me the potion "Drink this it will prevent any... unwanted things from happening..."

I took the potion hesitantly and drank it... I felt better, I actually felt clean, almost like I never even just had sex... until I got off him that is... pulling off him still felt good and reminded me about what just happened... "Alexander I love you!" I said and kissed him again, the words more than the actions caught him by surprise...

We got dressed together, then Alexander turned to me and said in a serious tone "Not a word of this to Louise... she'll tan my sorry ass if she found out about this..."

I winked at him "She won't hear it from me, I promise"

**-ALL CLEAR- XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX (Also any lems from now on are going to be in relatively third person perspective and I didn't like the first person perspective that much... if you think otherwise, let me know...)**

* * *

**Scorch's POV **

"Sooooo..." I said, after the previous events... "Um... shall we carry on? With what we were doing that is... and by that I mean looking for the dragon?"

Siesta, who still had a hard blush on her face grinned "Yup!" she chirped and we started to walk in the direction of the cave on the map when...

"RAWR!" a giant red lizard leapt out of a nearby bush and I pulled out my magnum as Siesta jumped behind me... then I heard a cruel snicker... and looked ahead of the salamander...

"Kirche!" I said "Wait..."

"All I saw was you two getting dressed... before that... I can assume..." she said

"Wait... if your here than the others..."

"They aren't here yet... only I know..." then I looked up and saw Tabitha and her Dragon, Sylphid... the ground started to shake and I looked down and the ground burst open revealing a...

"A mole?" I asked "Oh... I get it..." I looked behind the mole and saw Guiche leaning against a tree...

"Hey there!" he said

"Ok guys WHY... or rather... for WHAT..." I sighed

Kirche pushed up against me, squeezing her breasts against me... "Oh that's easy... we're on a treasure hunt!"

"A WHAT!?" I exclaimed

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"You know I came here on a serious matter, I'm not here to play around..." I said as we stood around the entrance to a cave on the top of a cliff overlooking the road to Tarbes.

"On the contrary..." started Kirche

"Shut up!" I interjected and glared at her, raising my head from the map I was looking at.

"Well I didn't either, I came here, on a noble quest, to seek treasure so that Montmorency will think better of me!" said Guiche

"That doesn't sound very noble to me..." said Kirche

"Haha! That's what you think!" replied Guiche "In Albion I couldn't do anything, it was hopeless!" then me, Kirche and Siesta sighed... Albion... I'd wondered what happened to them after that...

"Anyways... onwards!" I declared and pulled out my MA5B, turning the flashlights for both the gun and my helmet on. "I'll take point..." we entered the cave and walked forth in silence for what seemed like an hour...

"Ugh... how much further do we have to go?" complained Kirche "Are we even sure we are going in the right direction?"

"Well..." said Siesta "I'm not sure exactly, no one ever comes here, not even the villagers, they say it's got a lair of orcs in it as well..." the way she said it so casually racked my nerves a bit...

"You might have said that before we came here..." muttered Kirche...

We continued on a little longer before I held up a hand... "I think I heard something..." everyone stopped...

"Someone is here..." said Tabitha...

"What do you mean _someone_" asked Kirche

"Someone who isn't us..." replied Tabitha and I wanted to slap her for giving such a smart-assed answer, but part of me wanted to pat the girl on the back... I didn't think she even had a sense of humor to begin with... or emotions for that matter...

I heard footsteps, whoever it was, was behind us... I pivoted and aimed my flashlights towards the sound... "Who's there!?" I yelled and aimed my rifle.

I stepped towards the source of the sound and heard a crack from above and I jumped back as a falling stalagmite impacted the ground in front of me.

"That was just a warning!" Said a voice "Your nothing but thieves who are trying to steal a valuable relic!"

"Wait that voice..." said Kirche... I aimed my flashlight towards the sound, this time getting a glimpse of the speaker...

"Mr. Colbet!?" We all exclaimed

Mr. Colbert stepped out followed by a pink haired, short girl... "Louise?" I said "What are you doing here?"

She ignored my while Colbert continued talking "I came here looking for the ruins of the dragon... but... I didn't expect to see you guys here..."

"So... we're all looking for the same thing?" asked Kirche.

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked and I showed him the map.

"Ahhhh..." his eyes widened at the revelation "So..." he turned to Siesta "Do you really have the blood of another world?" Siesta nodded "To think that such a valuable piece of research material was hidden right here under my nose! Argh! What was I thinking?"

"But it's just a legend, I don't know if it even exists!" said Siesta... meanwhile Louise had pulled me aside...

"Just so you know, I'm only here to help my teacher! It's not like I'm following you or anything!" she exclaimed

"Good why would I want a thing like that anyways?" I mocked

"You know..." stared Derf "Lover's quarrels are nice and all..."

"IT'S NOT A LOVER'S QUARREL!" barked Louise

"But their gonna leave without us..." finished Cortana and pointed to the other who were walking away... we both ran and caught up with them... soon a light appeared at the end of the cave and we emerged into a small boxed in forested canyon.

"This place is amazing!" said Kirche as we walked throughout the trees, with rays of sunlight shining through the tree tops...

"Yes!" cried Guiche "Just the kind of place for hidden treasure!"

"So where is it?" she asked.

We were following Mr. Colbert at this point and he held his hand up to stop us. "Well according to the map it should be..." he paused for a moment before scanning the surrounding area. "Ah there it is!" he pointed off into the distance, and if you looked hard enough, you could see the outline of a structure...

We cut through the dense foliage with me in front, I used Derf to cut away any large bushes that were in our way in order to trailblaze through the forest quicker. Then after ten minutes of hacking away at the rough terrain we reached the building... it was s large shed of some sort, looked kinda like an old barn in a way, with moss growing down the side of it... we approached the building's large main door... there was a fancy looking padlock on it... it was covered by bulletproof glass...

"Well this shouldn't be a problem... we should be able to use magic to open this..." said Colbert who then cast a spell to open the door... it then deflected off the bulletproof glass... "W-what?"

"Six!" said Cortana "That looks like a hand scanner next to the lock... make contact with it an I bet I can get us in..."

"Right" I nodded and touched the hand scanner...

"Child's play!" said Cortana and the bulletproof glass cover popped open.

"Subject identified, please insert key..." said an automated voice

"No need..." said Colbert who then began to re-channel the unlock spell... I noticed Tabitha had wandered off and was looking at a stone near the barn... I ran over.

"Hey Tabitha, what is tha-" I stopped mid-sentence... I noticed Louise and Siesta come up behind me...

"What is that?" Louise asked...

It was a gravestone... I wiped the moss and dirt off the words, spelt in the English language.

"_Lieutenant Mike Connors, shot down 32 drones in 2025 over L.A... rest here in another world..." _I said...

"You can read that?" Louise asked in shock.

"It's English..." explained "It's the primary language of the UNSC..."

"What are you saying!?"

"Hey it's open! WOW!" I heard Mr. Colbert exclaim... I left the grave stone and walked into the barn... and was shocked at what I saw... all eyes were on me as I walked up to the triangular flying metal beast...

"I don't believe it..." I said. This thing... it had a perfect triangular figure, it's nose end was pointed so it could cut through air easily... with thrusters on the underside and back end of the flyer... rocket pods and missiles lined the wings and lay inside the body of the fighter... with three rotary cannons, one on the nose and two on the wings... I placed my hand on the wing... "It is..." I muttered "It's an FA38 STOVL Sonic fighter!" this plane was similar to a Harrier fighter... which was a VTOL fighter jet (VTOL = Vertical TakeOff and Landing)

**(A/N: The FA38 is actually the fighter used in Call of Duty Black Ops II during the Corteis Die [Pronounced: Court-as dee-ah] mission when you take over the fighter from Anderson, I wanted a futuristic fighter jet and I was at odds with using either a Harrier or this, but I thought this one looked cooler so I went with this one :3)**

Colbert walked up to the plane and touched the ladder which allowed one to climb up into the cockpit. "it's under a magician's spell so it'll stay stable!" he exclaimed and I wanted to facepalm.

Siesta walked up to me... "You know, Siesta... I knew when I first met you there was something different about you..." I said "When I looked at you it brought a feeling of nostalgia to me... you see... your accent and eyes... along with your hair... it's your American and Japanese blood! The accent sounds very American while your hair and eyes are those of Asian descent. I'd guess one of your grand parents was American while the other was Japanese or something similar... I think your grandfather was mostly American however due to his name..." Mind you American meant either USA or Canadian... or Greenlandish but I doubted she was a Greenlander or Mexican from her looks... "Which means your grandfather and I, we came from the same world!"

"Alexander!" Exclaimed Mr. Colbert "I'm not positive but you might be able to return to your world with this!" the news hit me like a tsunami... and I looked at him with my jaw loose... "Both of these robes appeared at the same time during the solar eclipse... and the second one passed right back through... that is why didn't this one do the same thing?" he pondered for a moment "ah yes! His timing must have been off by a little bit, that's all."

"What are you saying?" I asked

"The eclipse might act like a portal between robes! If the other one left by those means then why couldn't this one which failed to return do the same... the solar eclipse must have ended just as he was about to leave... that means that if you fly this robe into the solar eclipse you just might be able to return to your alternate world!"

I was shocked at this news to say the least... I could... might... be able to go home... but I had my doubts... what would I do when I returned? Would I go back to fighting like I had done in the past... with the war between the Covenant over, was I even needed as a soldier? My time here had taught me how to be more social and mesh better in civilian life, even if it was only marginally... and everything I'd learned here wouldn't apply to life in my world... or allot of it wouldn't anyways... I looked over at Lousie who was processing this information with a saddened expression stuck to her face...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We were back at the academy with the FA38 in the middle of one of the courtyards... students all surrounded the plane to have a look at the _legendary robe of the dragon _as they all called it...

"Thank you for becoming caretaker of the robe and for transporting it all the way here from Tarbes..." said Colbert to Osmond...

"No problem, I'm sure I can secure rights from the palace to keep it here at the institute for valuable research material..." replied Osmond... I walked away from their conversation... and glanced back remembering the foul smelling flask of dark liquid I'd seen in Colbert's lab...

"Hey Mr. Colbert!" I called and lead him back to his lab and showed him the bottle "If you can make more of this stuff... then I can probably find a way to get the plane off the ground!"

"Ah so I wasn't wrong when I said it was the blood of the dragon!"

"No, it's not blood, its Jet engine fuel..." I explained...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"Scorch... Scorch is going away..." murmured to myself as I walked away from the robe and towards the Dormitory tower... I then noticed a horse ridding up to me, but I didn't bother to look up to see who it was..."

"Louise!" called the rider, who's voice I recognized as Guiche's "We... we have a crisis!"

"I don't want to hear it..." I said solemnly...

"No it's really important!"

"Fine, go ahead, what is it this time? Another rumor about a cute girl!?" I exclaimed

"No, it's Albion!"

"Albion!?" my anger left me and was replaced by concern.

"Albion has renamed itself to the New State of Reconquista!"

"WHAT!?"

"And they just declared war on Tristain!"

"W-what!?" I yelped "War!? Did you say war!?"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**And so Season one is about to come to a close... with the next chapter being the final one in the season... which... might I add... is already finished! Quick work huh? Well, either way... your gonna all have to wait until after the weekend for me to upload the finale... mwahahaha... I'm so evil :P**

**Not to mention this is the longest chapter yet... (I know I keep saying that, but I can't help it if it's true!) with nearly 7,500 words! Anyways... Fave and Follow if you enjoyed and want to stay in the know of updates! Review as well please, and let me know what you did, or didn't like, constructive criticism is also welcomed! Remember all of the above helps me stay motivated on writing fics like these! (Especially with the end of the season coming up and the possibility of me putting it on hiatus for a while lingering on the edge of my mind...)**

**As per usual, I'll WTYL guys! :D Peace out!**

**PS: The next chapter isn't going to be nearly as long as this one... maybe about 5,000 words...**


	13. The Cavalry Arrives!

**And now, shit gets serious...**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Louise's POV**

"War? Did you say war?" I asked as Guiche walked away without replying.

"Louise..." I heard Scorch behind me, I turned around "Colbert just told me, there is a solar eclipse in three days..."

I was shocked, I had hoped for a bit more time with him before he had to leave... but... three days... and with the war fast approaching... this was getting to be too much for me to handle... so I had to play it down... for my own sake.

"He told me I should fly then and if everything goes well, I should return to one of my realm's worlds..."

"Well then, good for you!" I said, trying and failing to keep a degree of sarcasm out of my voice. "Congrads, you've been wanting to go home ever since the first day you got here... I hope that everything goes well for you." I turned around trying to prevent him from seeing my face, which I'll admit, was very disappointed... I had meant what I said, but I guess he took it the wrong way.

"Yeah well I don't need any sarcasm from the likes of you!" he said and stormed away.

I turned around to look at him walking away, I thought about following him to talk to him again, but I didn't...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Henrietta's POV**

The court was in chaos, I'd never seen such a hostile environment... but then again we'd never had such a crisis since long before I was born... Tristain usually stayed out of foreign affairs, except for marriages of convenience.

"First we should send emissaries to try and talk this out!" said one of the court lords.

"But what good would that do!? We're up against a large nation complete with battleships! Once they've set their eye on something there's no stoping them!" countered another. "So now we only have two paths left... one... is to surrender and live... and the other, is to resist and be killed!"

I couldn't stand that, most might view me as timid, but I knew the rules of being a noble and royalty on top of all that! I stood up abruptly "Surrender is not an option... It is the same as a cowards death to lose one's pride as a noble... I-... I will take personal charge of the army." I looked toward my mother who nodded in approval and I smiled back. I glanced at the ring of water on my hand, this was for Prince Wales.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Scorch's POV**

I stood in Louise's room looking out at the night sky...

"Three day's time huh?" I muttered "Man, that's not long..."

"Are you becoming emotionally attached or something?" Derf asked.

"To her? No way!" I said

"His pulse level just increased when you said that..." remarked Cortana

"But I was talking about this world in general. Not just this one girl..."

"It just spiked again for a second..."

"Shut up you two! It's all happening so fast I can't figure out my feelings!" I shoved Derf back into his sheath. "I've never had to deal with feelings like this before anyways..." I sighed... grabbed Derf and went over to lay down on the straw bed, leaning Derf against the wall.

"You know, I think Louise said she was going to a meeting tonight... but it's getting pretty late..." I took my helmet off and put it next to me... and I think I nodded off, because when I opened my eyes again it was morning. I noticed a piece of paper in front of me... I grabbed it and looked at it... however as I said when I first got here... my French is a bit rusty, I could only make out my name, Scorch, and a few other words, but not enough to take a guess at what it said...

"Hey Derf, can you read this?" I asked, not sure how he could even see... but since he was a magical talking sword I guess it was safe to assume he could read...

Derf popped out of his sheath and spoke in a high pitched girly voice "Dear Scorch, you're fired, you can go wherever you like, signed Louise..." his voice returned to normal "Uh-oh..."

"I'm fired!?" I wasn't at all upset, but I became suspicious at this... "C-... can she even actually do that?"

"Such a waste..." said Derf "And you were getting so close too..."

"Shut up you damned stick..." I grabbed Derf and headed down to where they were keeping the FA38, Kirche and Tabitha were both nearby, Kirche came over wondering what I was doing and I showed her the note.

"Your fired?" she asked

"Yeah, Louise wrote and left that for me this morning... then disappeared..." I said

"Hmm... I wonder..." mused Kirche "She may have gone to join Lady Henrietta..."

"She's with the princess? Why would she do that?" I asked

Kirche explained...

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa... there gonna be a war!? With Albion!?" I exclaimed, as if the looming threat with the Covenant wasn't bad enough... Huh!

"Guiche was signed up for defensive duty too... I'm originally from Germania so I was thinking of scurrying back home before this all gets out of hand."

Figured... and since there wasn't anything else for me to do, but wait until the eclipse, I spent the rest of the day idly thinking about what would happen to me, and this world, once I left... would I just go back to fighting aliens day in day out? At least this world proved some change for me... it wasn't constant battle, people weren't dying constantly and there was no threat of total annihilation from either Aliens or intelligent parasites or robotic human forerunners... that night I spoke to Derf about these thoughts...

"Hey Derf, I'm kinda curious... whadda you think your gonna do after I'm gone?"

"Ahh, I'll be sleeping again in an old item shop... nothing'll change..."

"I see... but, I don't really live in this world to begin with... so... if I go home... this war will have nothing to do with me will it? It won't affect me, my people, or my loved ones... right?"

"Hehe..." Derf laughed nervously "Yeah that's right..."

I thought about all the time I'd spent in this world, Louise kissing me, trying to beat me up, me slapping her when the Golem was attacking, her tears, the time I'd saved the school from a brute, the time Louise offered to dance with me but I rejected... me swearing fealty to Henrietta... that one... that one stood out the most... despite all the hardships I'd gone thorough... I had it easy compared with my life back in the UNSC... and... really, I did feel attached to Louise... not as a familiar or lover no... but... like a guardian... the older brother she never had... I did lover her, but more in the protective sense that an older sibling might have for their younger siblings... sure she did some questionable things but, for some reason I felt that's why I needed to stay around... maybe I didn't need to go home... maybe eventually... the UNSC would come to me?

I nodded off again, tomorrow was the big day... when I'd have to make my final decision...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

I headed down to the FA38 in the morning... Kirche and Tabitha were with me, and Derf was on my back... I wore my MJOLNIR armor and also had an MA5B on my back and M6G at my side. I didn't realize it until yesterday, but I was actually starting to run low on ammo with only 600 more rounds for my Assault rifle and 120 more for my Magnum... it was the standard full carrying capacity for the common soldier on the field, but considering I had enough ammo to supply a platoon when I first got here, I counted that as _not much left _by comparison... it was amazing how much ammo I wasted on target practice to keep myself in crack-shot shape.

"Are you sure it will fly?" Kirche asked.

"I can't really explain it... but..." I touched the triangular wings at the back, where the jet engine for fighter mode was. "When I touch it... I just know it will fly just fine."

"I guess being Gandalfr can come in handy..." said Kirche "Well then I suppose this is goodbye my darling..." there was a pause "But are you sure it's what you want? Cuz you know you might never see Louise again after you leave..."

"I can't think about that right now..." I said then heard a long heaving sigh from my right... I looked over and saw Mr. Colbert with four flying barrels next to him, which he placed next to the FA38

"Sorry to keep you waiting..." he said "But the dragon's blood... I believe you called it jet fuel? I worked all night and was able to create this!"

I walked over to the barrels and put a hose in it leading up to the fuel tank on the underside of the fighter. "Thank you so much Mr. Colbert." I said

"Normally the whole academy would see you off with a grand ceremony, but... with times being like they are right now..."

"It's alright, and I'm sorry to be asking so much in such hard times..." I said, nodding my head in respect.

"Mhm... the enemy is already in the west end of Tristain... they've planted a battleship just outside of Tarbes... who knows when they'll reach here..." said Colbert

"Wait! They're in Tarbes!? Siesta's home town!?" I asked

"Our army has already begun it's advance under the command of our princess, Lady Henrietta..."

"Are- Are you serious!? I have to help them! They don't stand a chance against Albion!" I jumed into the plane and ran through the start off checklist.

"Your reckless if you're heading out to the warzone! What if you break a wing out there, you won't be able to return home!" said Kirche

"That's a risk I have to take, I'm a soldier, I'm ready to put my life down on the line for others... if I can at least save two people from certain death but die myself, then I know that my life had meaning... if I lose the chance to go home, but save an entire army... then that's a worthwhile sacrifice..." I explained and flipped the ignition switch. A female voice spoke.

"Subject identified as Commander Alexander Chyton, UNSC... error... this model is out of date, and considered obsolete, do you wish to continue with flight?" said the computerized voice of the plane and I hit the yes button on the viewscreen. The engines flared to life "You might want to stand back!" I yelled and closed the cockpit, locking it.

The engines flared again and I lifted up vertically, since the FA38 was a VTOL plane, once I got to a nice hight, I changed to fighter mode and took off towards western Tristain... I didn't dare open it up to break the sound barrier since I was so close to civilization as the resulting sonic boom might rattle a few windows... well... more like shatter them...

"This thing is pretty fast!" Said Derf "aint a dragon alive that can even remotely keep up!"

"Yeah!" I agreed and checked the ammo levels of the plane, which were at 65% for the rotary cannons and 20 single missiles in the pods also with 3 bursts worth of Sky-buster missiles as well. "It's not only fast, but there is still ammo loaded in its weapons!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Henrietta's POV**

Me, Louise and the rest of the Tristain army finally reached the battlefield... a giant Albion ship was at the opposite end of the field above us... "Griffon squad, lure out the enemies Dragon squadron, Magic knights rush the flagship as soon as that happens..." I said, it wasn't the best plan by far... I saw our Griffon soldiers get knocked out of the sky quickly... while the Knights were getting picked off by cannon fire from the battleship... it wasn't going well... Wales... I wished he was here... he'd know what to do... this was my first battle, and I'd never lead any troops... If I hadn't doubted my military leadership abilities before, then I defiantly did now...

I noticed it was getting dark, but it was still noon... I looked up and saw the sun begin to be covered by the two moons of Halkenginia... the solar eclipse...

Then after a few moments of dead silence I heard a faint whisper... like a staff or sword cutting through air before it hit a target. "What's that?" I asked in general, to no one in particular.

"I don't know..." Said Louise who was right next to me... then she gasped and pointed "The robe of the dragon!" I looked and saw a triangular metal dragon flying across the sky... it flew straight up vertically then dove straight down towards the Albion dragons... four smoke streams flew from the dragon impacting the enemy dragon riders, exploding and vaporising them... it turned sharply and a stream of light flew from the nose of the dragon, ripping apart more of the riders... it was... amazing...

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**Scorch's POV**

I took aim at the last Dragon rider, this was way too easy... *bambambambam* the guns screamed and ripped up the last of the riders with high explosives, the sound of metallic ringing of the guns firing was... nostalgic... I noticed the Tristain army watching in awe... my ego started to build up... however I managed refraining from showing off...

"Partner! In front!" Said Derf and I looked ahead to see another dragon coming at me, I fired the cannons at it but missed... it came around to my rear, I looked back... "Who the fuck is that guy?" I said not recognizing the rider...

I noticed the Elite Rider beginning to channel a spell... "Partner draw me and open the canopy!"

I didn't hesitate. "Cortana, take over!" I pulled her chip out of my armor and put it into a drive for the fighter, then magnetized my boots, drawing Derf and opening the canopy just in time to absorb the spell from the Elite rider... "Alright let's do this!" I yelled and Cortana did a backfilp over the rider to get behind him... thankfully I had magnetized my boots so I didn't fall out of the plane... I sat back down and got a lock on the Elite Rider "I have you now" I said and pulled the trigger... nothing... I quickly hit the red missile button... nothing either... fuck... there was going to be no contest is I didn't have a weapon... however, in the corner of my eye I noticed an orange light from the center of the eclipse... and... two more Albion ships in the distance... well outside the blast radius that was to come...

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**Sergeant Stacker's POV**

We all lurched forward in our seats as we came out of the portal...

"Location?" I said to the pilots of our Pelican.

"Unknown..." replied the co-pilot "Our beacons are transmitting our position back to command, assuming we can keep the signal alive long enough..."

"Sir!" Said the pilot "look at this!" the pilot hit a switch and the monitors in the drop bay of the pelican lit up, showing a Covenant Super Carrier orbiting the planet...

"Damnit... have they spotted us?"

"Not yet... we should head to the surface before they do." Said the Pilot who turned on the radio to speak to the other Pelicans "Covie cruiser spotted, head to the surface ASAP."

All the Pelicans replied with an affirmative...

"Sir! This is Pelican Charlie 412! We've got banshees on our tail! Count of three! We've been hit!"

"Stay on us Charlie 412!" said the pilot..."

"I can't! We're losing her!"

None of us could see what was going on without turning around, since we were the lead Pelican... but we could hear the muffled explosion... and see the light...

"This is Pelican Delta 420! Pelican Charlie 412 is down! Repeat Pelican 412 is down! We lost Fire Team Charlie along with 500 pounds of equipment and one warthog!" said the pilot of Pelican Delta 420.

I looked out the front of the Pelican, we had just entered the atmosphere... the planet looked suspiciously like earth...

"Pelican Bravo 378! We're hit but we can hold! Our gunner managed to deter the attackers!" said the Bravo 378 pilot.

"Good." I said and looked back out just in time to see a blast of white light engulf the field we were approaching... I then saw a pile of burnt rocks, an old 21st century plane flying across the sky, heavily damaged and an entire army dressed like old medieval warriors and knights at one end of the field...

"Where in Sam hell's name are we!? Some planet bend on cosplay!?" said a marine from the drop bay.

"Can you raise that plane?" I asked

"Trying to now... opening a free channel..." the pilot hit a switch "This is UNSC Pelican Alpha 545 to unidentified fighter... state your name and business"

"U... UNSC!?" Said the pilot of the fighter... "T... the solar eclipse just ended! And you guys appeared... your UNSC! Get your Pelicans landed marines! We need to help these people!"

"And who might you be to order UNSC force around..."

"Who am I talking to who's in charge?"

"Lieutenant Chuck Walker was in charge but his pelican was shot down... Sergeant Stacker is here... and I'm in charge..."

"Hmm..." there was a pause "Well, this is UNSC Spartan-III, Commander Alexander Chyton S362, Noble Six. You will listen to my orders Sergeant..."

"S-Spartan!? Out here!?" I then remembered the story about Noble six going missing from his apartment on Reach... "So... you... you went missing a month and a half back!"

"Yeah... well I was taken here... now there are two more battleships headed this way, I've got friends in that ancient looking army over there and I'd like to protect them... plus maybe UNSC and Tristain, the country I'm currently fighting for, can work out an alliance later?"

"alright... we're landing now!" said the pelican pilot

"Good... my plane is heavily damaged, I'll meet you on the ground..." and the comms were cut off.

As we came into land we noticed the old flying ships were deploying soldiers... both on foot and air... on some winged beasts... I turned back to the drop bay.

"Alright... we're going in... GET TACTICAL MARINES!" I yelled as the Pelicans touched down in front of the other friendly army... I looked out the front and saw most of, if not all of them were slack jawed, gaping at us...

The doors opened and the pilot turned around in his seat... "Get ready to come out swingin'... touch down... HIT IT MARINES!"

"GO GO GO!"

We all ran out of the dropships, which had formed a square and used them as cover to avoid the blasts of fire coming from the enemy flyers... this was child's play, we all used our MA5Ds to take down the winged beasts and tear apart the enemy infantry, who only wore steel armor, making our bullets rip them to shreds. I saw a larger ball of fire headed towards us... "Dive men! Dive!" I yelled and three of the four marines near my rolled out of the way in time to avoid the explosion of the fireball I hadn't survived the Human-Covie war and the all the Halos by being slow... however one man didn't get out in time... although he didn't die he suffered major third degree burns...

"MEDIC!" I yelled and a marine with a red cross on his helmet and bag ran over and started treating the marine after putting out the fire.

Then I saw him...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Scorch's POV**

"Spartan!" Shouted a marine called Stacker, he looked like he wanted to ask me some serious questions so I silenced him with my hand

"Questions later, for now, we fight!" I pulled out my MA5B...

"Spartan!" Said a marine, "That's some seriously outdated weapons you got there!" he ran into a pelican and threw another rifle at me "It's the MA5D assault rifle, less ammo then the MA5B but much better accuracy and stopping power!"

"Thanks!" I resumed firing at the dragons, taking scores of them down... I heard the distinct sound of cannon fire in the distance. "INCOMING!" I yelled as one pelican blew into pieces... scattering supplies and sending the Warthog on it flying... but not destroying it... luckily...

"Marines! Get the Gauss hogs and Scorpion out and take down those ships!" I ordered and several squads of marines unlocked the vehicles and boarded them. Two of the 4 hogs were gauss hogs and were driven into position away from the Pelicans... the Scorpion Tank soon followed...

"Fire!" I yelled and the tank fired a single shell just at the right trajectory to impact the side of one of the Albion ships, blowing a hole in the side, bringing it down. While the other ship was taking fire from the Gauss hogs, one round from a hog tore the ship's mast in half, breaking the pole holding up the sail... then the two sails that kept the ship flying were targeted and destroyed... making the ship plummet to the earth... the men cheered as the rest of the Albion forces were cut down with our technologically superior weaponry... an Albion charge of about 600 or more soldiers came at us... but to no avil, the machine gun Hogs and the Scorpion opened fire on them with their machine guns ripping the entire army to bloody pieces in a matter of seconds. The attack ended with a final loud clap ringing out from the Scorpion tank as it finished off the remainder of the Albion Forces... I smiled under my helmet... probably due to my first chance to be in a large battle, or maybe that the UNSC had finally come... I'm not sure, I turned away from the carnage as I heard one last loud bang I recognized as a sniper shot... it came from near the first crashed Albion ship, the one that Louise had taken down with her new Void magic, as Derf had called it.

I walked over to Sgt. Stacker "What were our loses?" I asked

"Compared to the loses of the enemy... minimal sir! We lost one Pelican and five marines, two pilots... to fire burns no less... which means we only have 32 men left... 15 marines, 10 ODSTs and 8 pilots... along with 4 warthogs in good condition and one Scorpion Tank, along with about 2 tons of supplies... however we've also got several wounded but I'm sure most of them will recover."

"What were your orders?"

"To cross through a forerunner portal system to... here I guess... and establish a firebase until UNSC could track down our location and send a fleet through slipspace."

"I see... well Sergeant... the men we lost shall be mourned... but let's not waste time... there is someone who I think would like to meet you and your men..." a few marines and ODSTs stayed behind to clean up the mess by salvaging parts from the broken pelican and picking up the pieces and supplies dropped from its explosion, as well as preparing the dead for their choice of funeral, noted in their service record. Most of them would be buried on the spot they fell as a memorial, while one wanted to be cremated with his ashes sent back home. Ironic really, that he'd die to fire and request that...

We approached Henrietta and her army who were still dumbstruck by the arrival of the UNSC.

"M'lady..." I said and bowed slightly, the rest of the UNSC soldiers nodded politely, understanding that I was addressing someone of high authority. "Remember how I spoke about the UNSC, from my homeland a week ago?" Henrietta nodded with her mouth still open... "Well, this is some of them... only a few teams mind you but... well... I think their actions speak for themselves..."

"That..." Henrietta finally spoke "Was... impressive... to put it mildly..."

"Task force leader, Sgt. Stacker was commanding them... still is to some extent..." I said and pointed to the southern style American man...

"That's right, yer... err... what can I call ya?"

"Lady Henrietta..." I said "is that fine?" and Henrietta nodded

"Well then Lady Henrietta... this here is Fireteams Alpha, Bravo and Delta... there'd be nineteen more of us... but we lost twelve men on the way here due to Covenant fire and seven during the battle..."

"Covenant?" Henrietta asked

"COVENANT!?" I exclaimed "Explain yourself!"

"W-well... on the way here we passed a Covenant Super Carrier orbiting the planet... I thought you'd known?"

"I'd been seeing sporadic Covenant forces here... but... I've only encountered three squads worth... I... I didn't know that a whole Super Carrier was here! Oh fuck... it's Reach all over again..."

"Reach?"

"Reach... the whole planet was essentially destroyed in only a few days time... by a sneak attack by Covie forces..." the Princess gasped and a murmur of fear moved through her troops.

"sir!" Called an ODST corporal holding a sniper SRS-99 sniper rifle, I looked over to see the body of a long haired blonde man with a bullet hole in his head thrown to the ground. "I took out this scumbag who was using some kind of mind-control device on these teens... hope you don't mind but I thought it necessary to take the shot."

"That is Cromwell! The leader of the Reconquista!" said Henrietta "We meant to give him a trial for his war crimes if we caught him... but now he's..." she paused for a moment "Well, given the circumstances I understand your actions... this war should come to a quickened halt now that he is dead..."

I turned back to the situation with the covenant...

"Well, about the Covenant... Hopefully, they are only here for a relic recovery... if that's the case they might leave you alone... but... seeing as how I've encountered several Covenant soldiers on the ground, I don't think that's the case anymore... but... not to fear... UNSC is on the job... we will keep Tristain safe..." The princess seemed to calm down "However we do have one request first... before we take up defensive positions..."

"Sure, anything!" said Henrietta... and I smirked under my helmet...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**General POV (Third person)**

Louise and the rest of her friends were at the ceremony for the battle's end, receiving metals for their acts on the field... while a UNSC soldier stood to the side waiting to speak with the Princess... after the ceremony the soldier spoke to the princess who nodded after their conversation was over...

Louise headed back to the academy to show Scorch her metal only to find he wasn't in her room... upon leaving the room she sees things have gone back to normal... Kirche is a guy magnet again, Tabitha was reading books... Guiche was trying to convince Montmorency that he loved her and only her while she rejected him... she saw Siesta washing clothing at a fountain, who then said Scorch had just been there... and directed Louise just outside the academy... Louise went out to the front gate and looked to her left to see the foundation of a large green structure... with a hole leading underground and platforms one of which had a building raising from it... the start of the UNSC outpost on Halkenginia...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**So from now on, the plot will vary due to the UNSC and Covenant's involvement, it will still generally follow the cannon plot but will switch back and forth to the UNSC and Covie involvement in Halkenginia, such as battles and the REAL reason the Covies have taken an interest in Halkenginia! In fact, these Covie and UNSC agendas will more than likely affect the outcome of the cannon plotline.**

**Sorry for this chapter being shorter than the last few by the way... but... well... **

**So... that's it for season one... might take a bit of a break for a while... put this on temporary hiatus... maybe... well... you'll know if I don't update for a while... anyways...**

**Since I've brought this story so far, why not leave me a review about what you did or didn't like, constructive criticism is welcomed! And if you really liked the chapter/story so far, why not add this fic to your faves, maybe also follow it so that you can stay in the know of future updates? All the above help me to stay motivated to write this story (Cuz I like knowing people actually read my story... but let's face it, who doesn't...)**

**Welp then... WTYL peoplez! :D**


	14. Damned Pimp Glasses

**Season 2 is coming up now! Hope you enjoyed the first 13 chapters! Also, once the whole story is done I was thinking of doing an extra five chapter long epilogue type thing.**

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* * *

**Louise's POV**

Just when I'd thought the dreams had left me for good... the returned after a few weeks absence...

I was sitting in the passenger seat of a Warthog... I looked around so see hundreds of other vehicles surrounding mine... Kat was at the driver's position while a marine manned the turret... all the vehicles were driving at tops speed towards one location pinpointed on my helmets... erm... what did Scorch call it? H.U.D? whatever that means... along a clear dirt field... there were large behemoths with guns on them, as well as more mongooses (Mongi?) and Warthogs of all sorts of variations. Supported by the small metal flying birds known as Falcons... if you could picture a large scale cavalry charge, but with tons of hulking metal machinations replacing the horses you pretty much have a picture of what was going on... then a voice came through my helmet...

"It appears that noble team's discovery last night, was not an anomaly... large covenant deployments have occurred undetected and we are now under attack across the Utkozet territory, including orbital defences... as per the winter contingency we are now countering on all fronts... Noble's reconnaissance has also identified large sophisticated covenant army hiding canopies, and has pinpointed what appears to be a landing zone for additional covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined..."

I looked up the left and saw a Falcon getting closer to our Warthog, I noticed Carter and Emile were riding in the Falcon.

"That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC command as a priority one target" said Carter through the armor's com system

"Discharge link is coming in loud and clear" said Jun from some other location...

"Copy that!" said Kat and lifted her hand with a strange bar with a button on it... "Getting a signal on the pylons... detonating in three... two..." she hit the button and I heard and saw the tower that me and Jun had discovered the last dream up on a ridge explode... then I heard gunfire and looked ahead to see streaks of light and fire flying at us, some exploding all around us while the gunners on the Warthogs shot back at the passing enemy flyers. One Warthog got his right on the nose with a large exploding ball of blue light and flipped and almost hit me and Kat but she swerved out of the way just in time.

We started to veer away from the main attack force towards a small bridge, apparently our objective as to destroy a few Covie anti-air guns along a ridge near the target of interest. I looked up as we approached the bridge... "Incoming!" I yelled as I saw another blue ball of light come in and impact the bridge...

"Might want to hold onto something Six!" and Kat floored the Warthog and jumped the gap in the bridge, but the wheel clipped something and sent the Warthog flipping vertically, throwing me out as it kept flying ahead along the road until a green blast of fire destroyed it... I looked down and saw something familiar... 'The staff of destruction?' I thought in my dream mind, then remembered that it was a weapon from my Familiar's world...

"Hey Six! Can you hear me? I need some help here!" said Kat

I looked up and grabbed the staff "On my way!" I replied

The dream fast forwarded, well, ok it didn't really fast forward, but to me it seemed like it did... we ran through a few canyons and blew away some Covies and their fancy toys and a few AA guns... until the dream slowed down again and I was on a Falcon heading towards a large spire with a blue dome around it...

"Alright we're going in..." said the pilot... and as soon as we passed through the blue dome an electric shock ran through the Falcon. "We just lost all power... we're going down" said the pilot.

"Lock your armor Spartan!" said Jorge who I realized was next to me...

The Falcon crashed and I was thrown out of my seat... again... I struggled to my feet, picking up an MA37 while I did so... I looked back at the Falcon to see Jorge climb out, throwing his ammo pack out of the Falcon first then climbing out himself...

"Crew's dead, we'd best not stay here." He said and readied his machine gun.

We ran up a small hill taking out grunts and jackal and skirmisher snipers until we reached the base of the spire, with an Elite on a turret that shot green balls of fire as us... I ran over to a dead jackal and took a long rifle from him, I somehow knew how to use it... I aimed it at the turret and held down the trigger as a constant beam of energy melted through the turret and through the Elite's shields and flesh killing him.

"Ok Six, head for the grav lift and lower the shields for an airstrike..." said Jorge "I'll hold them off down here..."

I ran for this so called grav lift, which was some sort of emplaced air magic type lift, where if I stepped in it, I was whisked right up to the top of the tower... once I reached the top I encountered more grunts and Elites... one of which had an energy sword which I managed to dodge and counted by tackling him to the ground and shoving a knife in his throat. I finished off the grunts and found an orange switch that stuck out from all the other buttons and switches nearby... I pressed it...

"Six, we're right outside on a Falcon! Come on and jump!" said Jorge through the coms and I ran outside onto the deck of the tower and jumped off the tower, grabbing Jorge's hand from a passing Falcon, then we flew away...

"Control this is Noble one... Spire one is green and your free to engage... have a nice day!" said Carter who was sitting across from me, then I heard from the speakers in his helmet.

"Copy that Noble one, be advised all ground units, Frigate 318 Heavy inbound and MAC rounds have been authorised." Said the voice from Carter's helmet.

"MAC rounds!?" Jorge exclaimed "In atmosphere!?"

"That's one way to get their attention... hang onto your teeth people!" Replied Carter.

I looked out to the side and saw the biggest, flying... thing... I've ever seen fly pasted us... it was massive! Bigger than any ship I'd seen in Halkenginia and all made of metal! I wondered how it even flew! Then the shockwave from its MAC blast, whatever MAC means, hit me and shook us in the Falcon even from this distance... the blast passed clean through the unprotected spire and it collapsed in on itself. Then the unthinkable happened...

A blast of focused energy flew right through the huge ship, right down the middle of its length with no pause. It must have hit something vital or have been really powerful as the ship caught fire and went down, exploding while it crashed into the ground...

"No, no..." said Jorge "Someone tell me this 'aint happening!"

"UNSC frigate Grafton" said command "Do you copy!?" I looked up towards the source of the beam of light while I heard Carter reply.

"Grafton is dust, we need to get out of here now!"... And my jaw dropped... if I thought the last ship was huge... I was to be mistaken... the ship above us made the other ship look like a mere toy... this ship, I recognized as Covenant... it stretched across the entire skyline from horizon to horizon... I trembled in my suit... this... I didn't know it at the time, but this... was a Super Carrier... the exact same thing that was in orbit above Halkenginia right at this moment...

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Halkenginia... that was the world I was in... permanently... or at least for longer then I'd expected... it was a world of monsters, magic, mages... and completely incompetent and stuck up nobility... which is the category a girl I knew fell into...

It's been about two... maybe two and a half months since I'd first been summoned to Halkenginia but Louise and became her familiar... she is a horrible mage and has no sense of humility or even humanitarianism what-so-ever! I'd had the chance to go home a few days ago... but... I didn't, probably because I knew my work here wasn't done... no it wasn't for Louise's sake... more like I had that nagging, gut pulling feeling deep down that if I left now, I'd be leaving Halkenginia in danger... and I was right!

Turns out if I had left rather than stayed, I wouldn't have learned about the Covenant Super Carrier until it was too late... when a company of Marines showed up and informed me of this!

Anyways, these few days passed and I learned about the coronation of Lady Henrietta from princess to queen... big fuckin' deal, but I guess someone's gotta do it... she'd granted the new UNSC forces a small patch of land just outside the Magic Academy, where Fireteam Alpha, Bravo and Delta set up a firebase in classic UNSC style. It was a simple building, with the large rectangular and fortified HQ in the center, with three barracks on the eastern section and a motor pool, armory, and supply depot along the western. With a simple and makeshift reactor at the back of the base, most of the base's defenses were also makeshift... there were no auto turrets rather just a simple green titanium alloy wall, about a meter and a half thick with manual machine guns and missile launchers emplaced along the top of it. Dirt roads lead from one building to another while staying wide enough for a whole Elephant to drive along... (No not an Elephant as in the animal, I mean as in the mobile base on wheels...)

It was a nice change... and even better! Louise said she's stop calling me a dog, whipping (or attempting to in futile) me! She offered to let me sleep in her bed which I declined at said it would be better if I slept at the UNSC base... but she insisted and well... you know the rest... it felt really freakin' awkward though... oh yeah... she also said I can't look at any other girls, aside from her... which I thought was fucking retarded... emphasis on _fucking retarded_...

I've gotta feeling my hardships are only just beginning now...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I say yes to do, kinu no soba ni iru yo, do na mirai ga boku nao, ta neshi date kittooooooooo..._

_Ah, futari no unmei, me gu ri a eta no ha,kimi no koe kitto e daaakaaaraaaaaa!_

_Sou PINCH na dekigot, ahi you ste kitemo, ki mi to ireha norikoe rareruuuuuu.._

_Tokimeki to! Maken ki to! Urahara de harahara suru kedo!_

_Stay with me tada! Kimi wo namoritai yo! Tooi sekai de umarete futari dakedo! I say yes to do, kimi no subu niaru yo! Don na mirai mo kihou ni ka you... Forever!_

_**(A/N: I felt that was necessary for the start of the new season so don't judge me...)**_

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_**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**_

The next day I was watching out the window of Louise's room... observing the fireworks in the distance... well... fireworks to some extent... there was no bright colors or flashy designs going on... just explosion... looked like just a bunch of Anti-Air twentieth century flak cannons shooting their payloads into the sky... just plain old explosions, smoke and sound was all...

"C'mon..." I said "Hurry up and lets go already... aren't we supposed to have left an hour ago?" I lowered my voice "Damn girls and their hour long bathroom time..." I turned around to see Louise standing there, holding her hands behind her back...

"Scorch, I've got a gift for you... and you must accept it wholeheartedly!" she shoved something into my chest and I grabbed it, looking at what she had given me...

"Glasses?" I asked, but these were no ordinary glasses... no, they were freakin' purple and rhinestoned and shit! "You wanted to give me pimp glasses?" I asked again "No... I don't dress up like a freakin' pimp thank you..."

"I don't know what you mean by pimp... but these are special glasses handed down through my family for generations... I had to negotiate with my eldest sister for them..." she explained...

"You have an older sister?" I asked "Oh yeah! She's fuckin' nuts right? And what's so special about these glasses anyways? Can they see through walls or have like... freakin' heat vision?" I removed my helmet and held them to my eyes to look through them to see if anything changed... but no... they were just ordinary pimp glasses... I pulled them away from my face... they wouldn't budge... I noticed Louise grinning a bit in the corner of her mouth...

"What th-" I started before being cut off.

"Ok c'mon you were complaining that we were late right?" said Louise and ran out of the room... whatever the joke was, I didn't find it funny...

I ran outside to catch up with her "Hey what's the deal with this glasses anyways..." I saw Siesta walk by and decided to go talk to her instead, it seemed Louise was reluctant to give me any information anyways... "Siesta!" I called

"Mr. Alexander!" she chirped in reply then raised an eyebrow at my pimp glasses...

"Hey so do you have work later? I was wondering if you'd like to go see the parade later?" I asked, startling her a bit as jumped a bit at my unexpected request.

"Well... I wouldn't mind... but... I heard the reason you didn't go back to Reach was because of Ms. Valliere... so..." she continued talking while I glanced down... I noticed her chest was pressed awkwardly against the basket she was carrying... I mentally raised an eyebrow... then heard a faint beeping...

"What's that sound?" I asked

"Alexander your glasses!" exclaimed Siesta

"Huh?" I noticed the glasses were lit up and blinking... "What the fuck? These really are fuckin' pimp glasses aren't they!? The fuckin' works right here!" I noticed I'd been swearing allot lately... but with everything that's been going on I must say I had the right to say whatever the fuck I wanted to. See? I tried to pull them off again but it didn't work, if I pulled any harder I was afraid I'd pull my face right off...

"You can't take them off... those are medusa glasses..." said Louise... I mentally facepalmed... of course Louise would do something as dumb as this... "If you ever look perversely at any girl besides me, the lights will flash and it will beep..." I heard the snapping of her wand as she hit it against her hand... "Didn't I tell you not to look at any girls besides me!" and raised her wand which started to glow with electricity... I didn't like where this was going...

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* * *

**Mr. Colbert's POV**

I was fixing up Alexander's robe of the Dragon in the shed we were keeping it in, when...

*Ka-PEW!* I jumped and dropped my tools and spare parts, before running to the window only to see a smoke trail rising above the school...

"Ah, it must be Alexander and Louise again... figures..." I muttered to myself...

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* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Lousie was dragging me along... thankfully no marines were around to see this... they were all too busy building the base outside the school grounds to come in here... this would have otherwise been more then embarrassing... but... DAMN... that explosion took my shields down in one hit... it didn't have killing power but it packed a huge concussive shock! Knocking the wind out of me and putting me on my ass... my ears were still ringing and my head was still pounding from the shock.

We passed by Guiche and Montmorency who were on their way to the parade in the town...

"Hey Louise!" Said Monmon "Are you guys going to the parade as well? I'm trying a daring new look for the occasion..."

"Isn't that a little short?" Louise asked and I glanced up to listen to what they were saying better... and just to my luck Monmon was holding her dress up a little to show Louise it better and well... let's just say I had no ill intentions, but it was just RIGHT THERE in my FUCKING FACE! Aaaaaaand then the glasses went off...

"A-lex..." Louise hissed

"SON OF A BI-!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Mr. Osmond's POV**

I was writing some papers and filing a few reports for the palace when all of a sudden from just out my office window...

*Ka-PEW!*

I got startled so hard I slammed my face into my desk and my familiar, Chuchu, fell off my shoulder... I glanced back out the window to see a rising column of smoke...

"Oh don't tell me, those two are at it again?" I guessed... and sighed, placing my chin on my hand with an un-amused look...

"CHU-CHUUUUUU!" squeaked my familiar...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Again with the dragging... it wasn't my fault! Clearly these glasses were overly sensitive or something... maybe someone or even Louise herself played with the sensitivity option on this thing just so she could blast me repeatedly...

As she dragged me along we passed a few people...

"Kirche... help..." I said... and it went without saying that due to her bust size...

*Ka-pew!*

"Tabitha... get her off me..." and somehow... don't ask how... the glasses went off... "OH YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING M-"

*KA-PEW!*

And as the day wore on...

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*KA-PEW*

*snap*

I stood up having had enough... "Hope you have a new wand Louise... if not... hope they're not expensive..." I threw her wand bits away while she looked at me in shock... "I don't care if you had some sentimental value to it... just fuck you and you're fucking flashing pimp glasses!" I growled "Besides aren't we supposed to be going somewhere?"

"Huh! Just seems like any girl will suit your appetite huh!?"

"App-arent-ly" I said with mock sarcasm "So sayith the magical glasses of the pimpith!"

"Shut up!" she snapped and we headed to the town...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Once we were at the town I brought up the stupid glasses again "You know you wouldn't have had to buy a new wand if you didn't trick me into wearing these stupid ass glasses right?"

"Oh" she started in a smart ass tone "Here's an idea, why don't you just close your eyes until we get back huh!? Maybe they there will be a zero percent chance that I'll have to blast you again!"

I rolled my eyes "Or keep them fixed to the ground..." which I did... for a while... at least until these damned glasses came off...

We walked towards the parade location... for the celebration of the coronation of Princess Henrietta that is... I don't know what happened, all I know is that we were standing in a crowd and I assumed this was the right one...

"Scorch!" chirped Louise in a much too cheery voice "Is this anytime to be staring at your feet? Look up! The Princess is gorgeous!

I didn't think about it, I was just listening to what Louise had said and looked up... I whistled in my mind when I saw the Princess/Soon-to-be-Queen on her carriage or whatever you call a fancy wagon cuz basically that's what it was... since, I'm pretty sure carriages are supposed to have roofs...

She was very beautiful to say the least... she wore a splendid white silk dress with a blue brooch with full white princess gloves, her signature tiara decorated her head as usual. I glanced over her full figure, thinking, not bad at all... when I heard the blinking... I narrowed my eyes in display of my annoyance in what was inevitably to come...

"Alll-Ex..." hissed Louise "How dare you look at the princess with those eyes!"

"What the fuck are you saying I just looked at her! You told me to!" I countered and she raised her wand "Wait! Louise you can't just explode here, people will take it the wrong way!"

Fuck... *Ka-Pew!* I was knocked on my ass again and stood up to the sound of shouts and a few swords being drawn... as the smoke cleared I noticed I was surrounded by women... fully armed women with fancy armor and swords all drawn... I saw a blonde woman in a differently colored suit of armor shout at the other guards. "Arrest that man!"

"Oh great... there goes any chance of alliance with Tristain... THANKS LOUISE!" I yelled and Louise faltered, realising what she'd just done. The silent tension was broken when the crackling of my energy sword caught the guard's attention... a few were startled by the sparkling blue blade which hadn't been in my hands a moment ago (Well, it had, but when not ignited it just looks like a fancy punching ring. I hit the switch on the sword which allowed the blade to be transformed (I'd just found this out a few days ago) to a more human like blade, I guess this was the adaptable version of the sword, so a human or Elite could use it easily.

But before anything could happen... "Cease hostilities!" shouted a commanding voice... "Everyone drop your weapons... you too sir!"

I looked over towards the voice and saw a squad of 5 UNSC marines surround me and the female guards... I didn't recognize the one leading the squad however... he had buzzed blonde hair and a pretty lenient face with blue eyes and pale skin, I guess he was one of those sergeants that everyone wanted to have from the looks of it... he had a British sounding accent as well...

"Sorry for interrupting sir, but when Woods and I saw your, erm... little kerfuffle... with the pink haired girl we reported it to Sergeant Major Stacker who told us to follow you guys... turns out it was a good idea... what it's been nearly 300 years and still, you damned yanks never change..."

"I'm not a yank, I'm a Reacher" I retorted, guess my accent sounded American to him... despite the fact I'd actually never been to earth... what little I knew about earth was from the books and information about it that was drilled into my head during my Spartan training and lessons.

The captain of the guards or soldiers or whatever turned to the Sergeant leading the marines... "Who are you to interfere with the law of Tristain!" she shouted.

"I'd calm down if I were you little miss bitch-pants-mc-crabby... I'm here on official UNSC business and I demand that you hand over our commander! We have been watching for some time now, and we've seen that it was not our commander who caused the explosion but the pink haired girl!" said the Sergeant.

"Why you ignorant... the testimony of a mere peasant like you has no weight in our court of law when dealing with matters you know nothing about!"

"Peasant who are you calling a peasant!? I'm Sergeant Jude Montgomery of the United Nations Space Command! I don't give two shits about your fucking rustic sense of justice! For all I know you've got plans to behead our commander! And that, is a no-no!" said Jude.

I smirked thinking of a perfect way to please both sides... "Hey Sergeant..." I said, and he saluted, standing at attention waiting for me to continue. "At ease... anyways I was thinking I'll come quietly... but..." I started to join the Tristain guards in leading me to the _prison _which no doubt I could break out of in mere seconds... "If I'm not out in twenty-four hours you have my _full permission _to unleash the thunder on the castle... until then send one of your men to speak with the Princess about this misunderstanding." I said with hidden sarcasm and Sgt. Montgomery smirked back.

"Alrigh' sir we'll be headin' back then... see you tomorrow one way or another... Private Jenny Woods, you're going to speak with this princess!" and Jude rallied his troops and started heading back to the UNSC base... while this Jenny Woods trailed behind the Tristain soldiers, or guards, or... whatever they were... Jenny was a fairly pretty marine, sure she had a slight build to her but she had short brown hair (something I'd yet to see in Halkenginia) which came down in a sort of bob, similar to Siesta's hair... she had hazel eyes and a pretty face... my guess was she was pretty green from the looks of her.

Meanwhile I glanced over at the captain who was processing what I meant by _Unleash the Thunder_...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Pvt. Jenny Wood's POV **

Me and the pink haired girl, Louise as she was called were up just outside the princess's throne room... the girl Louise had a serious temper problem... she was probably also a sociopath from the sound of it...

"I am a knight of her majesty! Louise de la Valliere! There is something which I would like to speak about with her majesty!" shouted Louise to one of the guards standing in front of the throne room doors... "Please get out of the way!"

"No, back off!" retorted the guard and shoved Louise to the floor... I suppressed a laugh, the little brat had it coming... "Orders are to not let anyone in here for now!" and she and the guard across from her crossed their pikes.

"Just let me in or else!" shouted Louise and raised a small stick... what was she going to do, poke them to death? I snickered...

"Miss La Valliere!" said the captain of the women guards... who approached from the left with a primitive gun drawn and pointed at Louise "Put down your magic wand!" Magic? I thought... that was bullshit... I didn't believe in magic, but here I was in a world whose hierarchy system and government revolved around such a preposterous thing. "This gun will be much faster compared to your terrible magic!"

*chk-chk* everyone looked at me, while I leaned on a nearby wall. "Big fuckin' deal... and this assault rifle will be a hundred times faster than your shitty guns... and this armor... more than likely to resist any shot or slash you throw it's way... but meh, you don't see me bragging about things like that right?" I said. I simply didn't like people who were all up in themselves... as the majority of people around these parts seemed to be...

The captain rolled her eyes "Her majesty is in a meeting with Osmond, headmaster of the Magic academy... if you have anything to tell her, you can speak to me about it!"

"Osmond?" asked Louise "And you are anyways?"

"Chevalier Anies de Milan, captain of the gunpowder squadron!" replied _Agnes_, who pronounced her name like Anies for some reason...

"Gunpowder squad!?" Exclaimed Louise who grabbed the Captain's arms, more to the surprise of the Captain than anyone else... a look of WTF was plastered onto Anies face rather then one of anger... "You guys are the ones who captured Alexander! Return him to me at once!"

"Alexander?" asked Anies who turned to her 1st Lieutenant with the purple hair...

"It's that criminal we captured a few moments ago ma'am" replied the Lieutenant.

"Alex isn't a criminal!" Louise paused "I caused the explosion..."

"Wha?" Started the Knights when they heard Louise mutter...

"Seriously that idiot... he was looking at her majesty with those damned perverted eyes..."

"Are you drunk or something?" asked the Lieutenant and both of them raised their eyebrows.

"Either way, return Alex back to me at once!" Louise yelped. But Anies was already leaving...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**Scorch's POV**

I sit against the wall in one of the cells in the dank, dark dungeon of the Tristain castle... again, like usual... I'd been in worse scenarios... but still the one thing that really had me miffed was the fact I was still being treated like a dog, after everything I've done for Louise! I realized I still had the pimp glasses in my softcase on my side... I took them out an hurled them across the room with such force that when it hit the wall they shattered, thankfully the damned glasses had come off during Louise's last explosion... for which I was only the least bit thankful for... the explosion that it.

'Argh! If I'm still being treated like this after all I've done for her then why in hell am I staying here!?' I thought 'She knows damned well then I don't think of her in that way, so why the fuck is she trying to use force to make me see things her way romantically... which is seriously backfiring on her!' I sighed... 'I mean since I don't like her that way, why can't I at least take an interest in other women? I mean, The Princess is very pretty and cute...' I thought about when I'd accidentally kissed her... chuckling a bit at both the scenario, and the one that followed after... something along the lines of Louise writhing on the floor after many electric shocks... I had my eyes closed while I thought about those events so I didn't notice someone approaching me...

"Alexander?" I heard... a bit muffled... I shook my head clear "Alexander" I heard again and waited for my vision to clear from the haze after opening my eyes and my eyes to adjust to the darkness. "Alexander!" said the Princess... wait... the Princess... I jumped back and to my feet.

"Ma'am!" I saluted "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was looking for you of course" replied the purple haired girl.

"Looking for me?" I mused then a thought entered my mind and I shook it out and muttered "No... that's too farfetched"

"Alexander!" said Henrietta and grabbed my hand. "No matter what happens I need a favor from you..."

"A favor?" I repeated "Like...?"

The door burst open so quickly I didn't have time to react as some blonde woman knocked me to the floor after punching me in the face... I recognized her as the captain of the knights who were guarding the princess during the parade...

"Oww..." I mumbled

"You bastard! How dare you have any perverted thoughts about her majesty!" she yelled... perverted ideas? What bullshit had Louise been telling them this time? "I shall kill you on the spot!" I heard a clicking and that's when instinct kicked in... and when instinct kicks in... I can't be held responsible for the damage I caused...

*crack*

"AHHHHH!" Screamed Anies after I shattered her gun arm by bending it backwards... I don't think her arm was supposed to bend that way... I held her by her neck against the wall, chocking her while she struggled with her feet in the air... sure she was tall compared to most of the women in this world, but she was still short compared to me. She gasped and gaged for air, my helmet was off and I stared all my hate into her eyes and immediately, she knew who was boss...

"Alexander!" Exclaimed Henrietta "Back down, let Anies go, she's just protective of me!"

Slowly I let go of Anies who fell to floor gasping for air on her knees and one good arm... "Sorry, it was combat reflexes... but..."

"It's alright!" said Henrietta

"It's alright!" squeaked Anies, copying Henrietta.

"Did anyone ask you!?" I yelled at her and she jumped away from me, quivering... "Yeah you better be scared!"

"Anies, please leave, I wish to have a private conversation with Mr. Chyton here..." said Henrietta (Remember Chyton is my last name).

Anies nodded and she didn't waste any time leaving the room...

"Alexander... are you ok?"

"Of course... takes more than one... what was she? A... novice or something?" I asked and I could basically see the sweat drop appear on Henrietta after I said that... almost as if I was in some sort of anime or something... but... that would be dumb right? (Notices the awkward silence) No seriously why... why are you being so dumb? Stop being dumb! (Aaaand there goes the fourth wall!)

"Well in that case, I have a request... according to my intelligence department and the words of Headmaster Osmond... so far, in this war, the ones who had defeated the Albion army are Louise, yourself, and your Soldiers... oh what am I saying!? I was there! I saw it!" she sighed "But from the actions you pulled with the Robe of The Dragon and the explosion which originated from you and Louise, I can assume you two are related to the Void in some way, I am guess you are Gandalfr while Louise is a Void Mage?"

"W-well..." I didn't know whether to come clean and confirm her theory, or to deny it all... however she was smart, and I don't think lying to her would be a good strategy at this point... plus... I wasn't sure myself about this whole void thing anyways...

"That power, could you lend me assistance by letting me use that power? And... if you can... are you able to bring your soldiers along for this war, if the need arises? The kingdom is on the brink of war, it's only around the corner, I feel it, the soldiers feel it, the nobles and peasants feel it, it's only am matter of time and the men would have so much more morale if you were with us... together we could initiate an attack on Albion and finish this war before it gets to severe..." she took a breath "The council and court and even the local church have agreed with the army on these matters as well... but, I want to prevent war from coming, but I doubt that is a possibility..." The princess took my hand again "Alexander..."

"Yes?"

She gazed at my hand "This is the mark of Gandalfr right?" she asked indicating to the mark on my armor, which showed no matter what I wore over it... but on this armor it only appeared as scratch marks which could easily be mistaken for tally marks for kills made. "Please use your power together with Louise and assist me... and if need be have your soldiers ready..."

"W-well... I can bet my troops are ready for a easy victory, and... well... Louise said she'd do anything for you so by default since I'm her familiar I guess-"

"But I'm not asking you as her familiar! I'm asking you as a friend!" she said

"Friend?" I asked

"I don't have many close friends... so please... become my friend..."

"You don't have many close friends?" I asked "Sounds familiar..."

Henrietta looked away from me... "Her Majesty, Your Highness, My Lady... whatever the damned title is, it only robs you of your freedom... only a small select few people truly understand my feelings and are able to help me in times like this..." I could see her eyes tearing up, getting all moist.

"Hey." I said calmly and put an armored hand to her cheek and made her look back at me... "Didn't I make a vow to you? I'll do anything for you, not just as a subordinate or underling, but as a friend..."

The princess was caught off guard by my sudden affections, and she smiled with glee... "Thank you!" she wiped her eyes... then stood up "But in the meantime, I'd like you to remain at the academy... with Louise... I'd like to keep my relationship with you a secret... since enemies will be present in the palace as well..."

I stood up with her "Spies?" I asked.

"I believe so... only moments ago the Andvari's ring was stolen from the safe in the castle vault... the magic protecting the vault was extremely high tier class magic... very few could open the vault... and even fewer knew the location of the ring once within..."

"Damn..." I said "shit's getting serious!"

"Alexander!" Henrietta chirped "as a token of appreciation, if there is anything you need, anything, then please let me know!"

"Anything?" I asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Mhm." The princess nodded cutely. "Whatever it is, as long as it within my means that is... whatever it is..."

I glanced over her chest then shook my head clear... no there were better things to use a favor on rather than personal gain... "Well... how about some swords, armor and equipment for my troops? I mean we want to keep our presence here on the down low and us looking like we are, are going to stick out... plus we might run out of food sooner or later..."

"That can be arranged..." replied Henrietta "Now then, Anies... please let them in!"

"Anies isn't here, it's Michelle" replied a different voice...

"Where is Anies?"

"She went upstairs to lick her wounds and hide in the corner..." said the other girl with a hint of crude humor and sarcasm at the last part _hide in the corner _like she was making fun of the captain... "Anyways, I'll let them in...

The dungeon door opened and Louise stepped in along with Pvt. Woods...

"Oh hey guys... been a while huh?" I asked with a hint of humor... "um... Louise?"

"Alex..." she hissed...

"Y-yeah?" I asked, a little worried with her tone... it was one thing to beat up Anies, another to beat up Louise, I wouldn't do it... but I would taze her if I had to... don't ask, it's just our thing...

"Alex!" she squealed and run up to me, crying into my armor, hitting my chest plate with her dainty little hands rolled into fists... which harmlessly _ting tinged _off my armor. It was kind of amusing to watch but also highly awkward given present company... on the other hand it could have been worse... (Shut up, you know when you ask for it; don't be surprised when it finds you...)

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Alex you're an idiot! Why would you make me worry about you like that? Alex you idiot!" whined Louise while pressing her face into my armor... well... it was warm, so I guess it wasn't totally uncomfortable... meanwhile I showed my WTF face to everyone else in the room, to which Michelle and Jenny were trying not to crack up while Henrietta looked like she was forcing a humorous smirk...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Henrietta had sent us on our way back via carriage towards the magic academy... Pvt. Woods sat across from me and Louise while Anies was up front... her arm had been fixed thanks to a water mage and we'd made our peace... honestly I actually slightly respected her for having the guts to attack a Spartan like that...

"Hey what's that?" I asked Louise, who was holding a small brown book with a fancy buckle...

"I think it's the Book of Will, passed down from the Ancestors..." explained Louise, which I understood very little of... "Her majesty gave it to me, she said it would be better if I held onto it... the books is supposed to have been stored in the Tristain kingdom for generations..." she started flipping through the pages... all of which were blank... "Headmaster Osmond said that the scriptures of Void Magic should be written here... but..."

"But they're all blank..." I said...

"Maybe its invisible ink?" suggested Jenny, her helmet on her lap. "Try holding it up to the light..."

Louise held a page to the window... nothing... "Well, that's not it..."

"Well... maybe..." I mused

"What? What do you know?" Louise asked...

I got an epic look to me "This challenge has yet to be discovered... to uncover the quest and proceed along the storyline... find and finish these quests... that is our goal! And activate the event triggers! This..." I got a sparkle in my eye "Should be the meaning..."

Louise's derp face was priceless... while Jenny just raised an eyebrow... "Huuuuuuhhhhh?" asked Louise

I scratched the back of my neck nervously "Well... that's what happens in the video games an all, you need to finish a specific quest before you have access to certain objects or areas..."

"Video game?" Louise asked... (Yes, oddly enough, despite all my time fighting for the human race, despite claiming to have no time for women or other things... I managed to find time for video games... go figure...)

"Yeah, Video games... the one thing back home that got my mind off all the fighting that was going on... despite most of the games I played to be about fighting..." I smirked as I thought about playing Call of Duty: Big Green One. **(A/N: The name is a mock of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One)**

"Scorch..." Said Louise "You seem to wish you had gone back to Reach..." said Louise with a sad expression. I just shrugged.

"Kinda... but..." she glanced up at me "I mean it's a dangerous world, I can't simply leave you in said world... mind you it's not as dangerous as mine par say but still dangerous... and... I have... a feeling... that... if I left now, I would feel like I was forgetting something... something important... like my work wasn't finished... I also know for a fact that since the marines got here, it's only logical that I'd end up back here anyways, so what's the point of going home if I'm only going to return not long after?" I explained.

"I-... I guess..." muttered Louise...

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

We'd finally arrived back at the academy... me and Louise got out along with Pvt. Woods, who started back to the UNSC base.

"Ok... Louise... A-Alex..." her voice quivered a little when she said my name "You both with be given orders from the gunpowder squad should her majesty call upon you... both of you will go by codename, Zero. Objections?"

"No." Said Louise

"A-and... Alexander..." she said and I raised an eyebrow at her... "I-I-I suppose I should let you ff for what happened today... b-but... I will not tolerate such a shameless act towards her majesty again..." she snapped the reins of the horse drawn carriage and started heading back to the town...

"Al-ex..." Louise hissed "What does she mean by... shameless act!" she got an evil sparkle in her eye and she snapped towards me... only to raise an eyebrow and scan the area for me... stupid brat, I was right in front of her... Active Camo for the win right!?

"Alex... wheeereeee aaaaarrrreeee yooooou?" she had her wand out and was searching for me... heading back into the Academy while I on the other hand went in the opposite direction... I managed to catch up to Jenny, turning off active camo right next to her giving her a good scare in the process...

"Yeeeeaaahhhh... I'm gonna be staying in the barracks tonight..." I said and we both entered the base, found a barracks with a few empty cots and found one each. I took a cot which was against the wall (well technically they all were) which was on the second layer above an empty cot, while Jenny took another one on the second layer, conveniently above Sgt. Montgomery's bunk... I'd removed my MJOLNIR to sleep and wore simple fatigues instead... didn't want to rip the cots now would I?

The next day I was shaken awake... I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes to find out who had woken me... it was Pvt. William Mason, a marine who was with the others who had intervened during the incident yesterday... he looked similar to Woods, but in a more... masculine way... brown hair, green looking... that sorta way...

"Hmm?" I asked "What's the meaning of this?"

"Sir! Someone is here to see you, sir!" said Mason

I got up, still in my fatigues and followed Mason towards the barracks door, once I'd gotten outside, I saw Anies and Louise. Louise was standing there cross-armed while Anies looked rather distraught...

"Louise, I know what your problem is... but... Anies? What is the problem? You look like you've seen a ghost..."

"I just wanted to wait until you both were present... but... well... how do I put this softly... the princess has been kidnapped!" said Anies

"WHAT!?" Louise and I exclaimed.

* * *

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**My wrists are killing me... it might be CTS kicking in or something... (Carpel-tunnel syndrome) which worries me... I might take a break for a while from writing... and... playing games (D,:), alas... but hey, you can wait... mind you it might pass in a few days so I doubt I'll be done that long... anyways...**

**Since I've put all this time into writing this story for you guys, why not leave a review for me please? Telling me what you did and/or didn't like with maybe some tips and tricks if you feel it's necessary ... constructive criticism is welcome... also if you really did enjoy it, why not add it to your favorites, and follow it so that you can stay in the know of the updates... all of the above helps to keep me motivated to write these stories for you guys and it means allot to me... thanks guys, your all awesome! **

**WTYL :D**


	15. The Pursuit

**Hey, sorry for the long delay, but well... at long last my CTS (Turned out it wasn't really CTS, but it was similar) died down and I can type fine now, but guess what, the day it healed, I fucking burnt by hand! So shit! I had to take even more time off cuz my thumb and palm fucking ache like a beatch! **

**Me: Damnit Oven mitt you've failed me for the last time! *eyes the pinprick of a hole right where the thumb and index finger meet***

**Mitt: Oh no not the fireplace!**

**Me: YES! The fire place!**

**Mitt: NOOOOOOOO! *FWOOM***

**Me: Burn in hell you son of a bitch!**

**... I don't know what that was all about...**

**I digress...**

**Also, this chapter might be excruciatingly short compared to the other chapters... sorry but this episode is mostly flashbacks by Henrietta and I'm skipping those.**

**Oh and what's worse is that my obsession with this fandom is dying rapidly D: Damnit! I really want to finish this story but there are three things putting doubts in my mind about finishing it.**

**1: It's going to be looooong... very long...**

**2: My obsession with this fandom is, as I said, dying.**

**3: I'm starting to obsess more and more about other fandoms, well, actually it's being evenly distributed among several other fandoms, this one included, however my top three at the moment are Halo, Warcraft and this. Which is making it difficult to stay focused on just one story... damn my short attention span -.- **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"I said the Queen was kidnapped..." repeated Anies

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you said, I'm just shocked a little..." I said, I thought about what Henrietta had told me the other day about a spy. "You know on second thought I'm not..."

"But, explain please!" exclaimed Louise "What do you mean by kidnapped, who? When? Details Anies, details!"

We all stood just outside the UNSC base while Anies explained the situation. "We don't know who, but it was early this morning it seems, maybe five or six o'clock, my subordinates are searching for her and we've determined her majesty's kidnapper to be heading towards Lagdorian Lake."

"Why would they be heading there?" I asked

"I don't know, but in any case, we need to keep this out of public knowledge for the time being, so it will only my Gunpowder squad and you two will be taking part in this rescue mission.

"With all due respect Anies" I said "I've already notified Fireteam Delta and the Fireteam leader is submitting four ODSTs and a Warthog to help track her down."

"Fine, I guess since your here and our ally it's nice for you to be earning your keep..." replied Anies, to which I glared at her and raised an eyebrow in a _really? Did you really just go there?_ Kind of way.

"Well then, I will leave you to it, I must go and join the rest of my squad." Said Anies as we walked back towards the academy, she left us and went towards the stables and jumped back on her horse and left for the capital.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Louise and I were in the FA38 fighter, I was in the front while she was in the navigator/co-pilot's seat in the back. I started up the engines.

Mr. Colbert, who was helping us get the plane ready shouted to us "Are you sure this is a good idea? The _plane _as you called it has yet to be fixed completely!"

"So long as it flies I guess!" I shouted back over the roar of the engines "Oh hey! By that way! Where you able to get that thing I was asking for working?"

"Yes, yes! I worked all night to unlock the afterburners, some code was needed along with extra fuel, but I managed to get it working, you know how it works right?"

"Yeah, thanks Doc!" I replied

"Um..." muttered Colbert "I'm not a doctor..."

"Meh..." I hit the vertical control and took off, heading towards the Lake.

Once we were at a fair altitude and cruising speed, I put Cortana's chip in the SD drive, which allowed her to take control of the plane. I turned around in my seat to look at Louise, who was flipping through the spell book she received from the princess and Mr. Osmond.

"Hey, about the kidnapping... it might be useful to bring up that I did hear the princess talking about a spy in the palace... right after, she is kidnapped, coincidence?" I said

"Hmm, now that you bring it up, that's a good point, I also heard about a possible spy not long after the ring was stolen... which brings up the question why in hell were we still keeping it there, I thought Tabitha had it!" replied Louise, looking up from her book.

"Yeah..." I nodded So much for getting it to the water spirit anytime soon... wait..." I thought about something Montmorency had said a month ago. "Didn't Monmon say that the ring had magic which could revive the dead? Or something along those lines anyways."

"Yeah she did, the ring allows you user to reanimate the corpse of the deceased, and so the reanimated one will follow the orders of the wielder of the ring." Explained Louise.

"So, let me get this straight... it doesn't actually resurrect, more like, reanimate, meaning... the semi-equivalent to zombifiy?"

"Well, it's not so much as to make a zombie out of said person, more like infuse the body of the fallen with an ancient spirit of vengeance, which is tied to the ring... I think that's how it goes but you'd need to consult with a water mage or check the archives to get the full explanation, what I know, it's only rumors and tidbits I had heard from Monmon." Louise glanced at the screen mounted on the co-pilot's console, behind the pilot's seat. "Anyways, we need to hurry and find the Princess!" Louise looked out the window and seemed to ponder something "Hey, doesn't this thing go faster?"

I turned back around in my seat to check the speed and altitude, they were all fine at the moment, but then I heard a loud clunk coming from the rear of the plane.

"Alex! What did you do!?" I heard Louise shriek

"Shit... well... this ain't good..." I muttered...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Agnes' POV**

My Squad and I rode along the road to Lagdorian Lake on horseback... one of the UNSC metal mounts was catching up to us before it managed to pull next to me, but not enough to scare or frighten our horses with its loud noises.

"Alright, Commander-62 wanted us to rendezvous with you and pursue the princess under your command, hope he knows what he's doing!" yelled one of the ODST soldiers, who wore shiny black armor with silver glass faceplates or... at least I think they were glass, they looked like glass... one of them rode on the side seat of the mount with a compact rifle with a scope on it, it had a funny handle on top and there was a box mounted on the back of the gun... an ammo box I guess. Another was sitting on the flatbed on the back of the mount, holding onto the side of the Warthog. Yet another one was controlling the beast while another was standing on the flatbed, controlling a large cannon with several rotating barrels on it.

"Captain!" Shouted Michelle, my lieutenant. "I see her Highness! Up front!"

I looked forward and sure enough I saw a man clothed in a fancy blue suit, holding a wand, along with our queen, Henrietta... I noticed a spell being cast at us... a torrent of wind! "Incoming!" I shouted

"Corporal Bloomfield! Vehicle Hard-light shield! Go!" shouted the driver of the Warthog and the soldier on the side seat hit a button on the side of the Warthog and a huge blue shield materialized at the front of the Warthog, which drove in front of us, taking the blast, but collapsed after taking the impact. It then returned to its original position.

We soon got close enough to use our weapons. "Aim for the horse!" I ordered "It's not going to be a laughing matter it we hit the queen!"

"Ha!" Laughed the ODST on the back of the Warthog "Ain't friendly fire a bitch?" he turned to the ODST on the big gun "But she's right... Private Kashlow, hold onto the turret but use your Battle Rifle, that big gun just isn't accurate enough!"

"Yeah Yeah Corporal Hamlin... Sergeant Dempsey, mind holding it steady then?" the ODST then switched to a long but compact rifle much like the other ODSTs.

All of our guns fired off, none hitting it's marks... however me and my troops had to reload after we shot, but the ODSTs were able to keep up a constant stream of bullets.

"None of our shots are getting through!" Shouted the ODST in the passenger's seat "It's like this guys is hacking or something! I swear I shot him in the back but the round veered off to the side like it hit a bubble shield..."

"He's a user of air!" I replied "He's using air magic to send our bullets off course!"

"Magic huh? Riiiight..." I guess they still hadn't gotten their heads wrapped around the whole concept of magic in this world... "But I'm gonna go with this guy's a hacker instead, ok?"

I heard another metallic blast from up ahead... "Another blast incoming!" I shouted

"Damnit! The HL shield isn't recharged yet! Brace for impact!" yelled the Warthog driver.

*KABOOM*

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"Damnit the rear engine is about to go!"

"Is that bad?" asked Louise

The plane clunked more... and slowed down...

"Just a bit... Cortana, hold her steady, I'm going to take a look at it, see if I can jury rig it to keep us going a while longer!"

"Rodger!"

I magnetized my boots and opened the cockpit and shimmied along the nose until I reached the wing, then I stuck myself to the wing and struggled against the wind drag to reach the rear engine. Once I reached it I looked into the rear propulsion drive. The blue light and small flame which was supposed to be coming out of it was dimmed and there was smoke coming from the engine port.

"Great..." I pulled out a small repair kit which came with the plane and found a small hatch to inspect the engine... one of the pieces inside came loose due to a rushed repair, and had punctured the fuel line from the tank to the actual engine and fuel was leaking out of the line, slowing the plane... the small puncture was getting worse and worse, causing more and more harm to the plane. However this was nothing a little flame and heat retardant duct tape wouldn't fix... like the civilian engineers always say... duct tape fixes everything! Including top of the line, obsolete and collector quality military hardware which could be worth a fortune in collector value alone...

Once I'd fixed it I opened a com channel with the inside of the plane through my helmet. "Louise, are we good now?"

"I don't know!"

"Um... how is the speed?"

"I think we are still slowing down!"

"What!? Why!?"

"I don't know! There is this blinky red light near a weird icon of a can with a hose coming out of it, is that bad?"

"SHIT! The leak was present to long, we lost too much fuel!" I climbed back into the cockpit, and as soon as I did the plane slowed down more and more until we started to lose altitude. "At this rate, with no control, we'll crash into the trees! The plane will be ruined! If worse comes to worst then we'll have to eject!" I pulled Cortana's chip out of the SD drive just in case of an emergency ejection.

"Yup, we're goin' down!" I said and tried my best to level up the plane to no avail... "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Then suddenly the plane began to level itself out and fly on its own... "huh?" I wondered and looked out the window to see a blue dragon ridden by a small blue haired girl and a large breasted red haired girl... Kirche and Tabitha to the rescue... again... I was questioning my masculinity at this point... getting saved by a petite/tiny blue haired girl and her well endowed friend for the third time was not... healthy for the old ego... mind you at this rate I doubted it would be the last...

"Hey darling!" Shouted Kirche "Your dearest Kirche is here!" she made a blow-kiss gesture to me and I sighed in wonder whether she'd ever knock it off...

Louise managed to open the cockpit and retort "Hey what do you think you guys are doing following us again!?"

"Hey just a minute!" replied Kirche "is that any way to talk to someone who came here just to save you? Hmmmm?"

"Yes, yes, thank you for the assistance Kirche and Tabitha!" I shouted, saving Louise the trouble of getting in a hissy fit over her ego and rivalry with Kirche... not to mention her attitude... Louise's that is.. I simply didn't have the patience for it today...

"But this is a secret mission! Stop following us!" said Louise

"Aren't you tempting us more to follow you by telling us that?" asked Kirche with a smart ass tone.

Then just barely audible, Tabitha said something that I can only guess I heard as "Below"

I checked the bomb-sight so I could see underneath the plane, sure enough it was a white horse with the princess and some fancy pants in a blue suit... wait... this fancy pants looked familiar...

We reached the lake and Tabitha put us down in the Lake, flying by the Princess and her kidnapper for a slight show... then we recognized the culprit...

"No way! That's prince Wales is it not!?" Exclaimed Louise "Isn't he supposed to be dead!"

"You don't think..." I started

"Andvari's ring!" finished Louise

"I was afraid of that..."

Tabitha brought the plan back around and skirted is across the water, luckily, it floated and Louise and I climbed out onto the wing and jumped to shore.

"Princess! Are you alright!" Louise yelped, but the alleged Prince Wales started to lightly pull Henrietta in the opposite direction, without her objecting or resisting... which was... odd... to say the least... however before they could get away a gust of wind nearly pushed the Prince and Princess of their feet as Sylphid landed, letting off Tabitha and Kirche before flying away again.

"Yooooou, shaaaaall not, paaaaaaass!" hissed Tabitha.

"Um... ok... right..." sighed Kirche "Wait! What is the princess doing here! What's the meaning of this!?"

I jumped next to Louise from the plane wing and stood in front of her, "Stop right where you are, return the princess to us and you'll make it less painful for yourself!" I demanded.

"Ah, shut up!" retorted the supposed Prince Wales. "Henrietta desires to be together with me."

"What!?" exclaimed Louise "Your Majesty!?"

"Ugh" I groaned "Wales, did you use Andvari's ring to reanimate yourself?" I glared daggers at him, waiting for his response... which came slowly... until the clouds in the distance began to roll over us, and a lightning crack followed by a thunder clap sounded and shone... it started to rain.

"Andvari's ring huh? Yeah, I've heard of it... the myths said that it has a magic which can give the dead another life... if that's true then... I think I could understand where you begin to see the problem with it..." said Wales, before snickering evilly. I almost found it creepy... almost...

"M'lady!" Said Louise "Please, come back to us! He's not the Wales we know! He's just a ancient spirit!"

"Louise! Stop throwing around false accusations! You know him too! The Wales before his death! This IS the real Wales!" Exclaimed the Princess...

The downpour got harder, the raindrops were popping and crackling quietly off my energy shields, but with this dead silence, they as well have been cannon blasts. The darkness began to intensify as well... the bordering forest became pitched black within the tree line and beyond.

"So, how about you get out of the way?" said Wales with an evil smirk.

"But M'lady!" said Louise.

"Talking is useless..." said Tabitha who aimed her staff at Wales... and quickly chanted _"Dalvies Hontallu his hissa hiru"_ once she finished chanting a dozen razor sharp icicles tore at Prince Wales body, leaving several holes in him... however despite Tabitha's best efforts and the shock of the Princess... his wounds quickly healed themselves...

"A futile attempt... your attacks are incapable of harming me..." said Wales.

"Well then taste dragon's breath!" Exclaimed Kirche who cast a jet of flame at Wales while Tabitha modded it with her own tornado spell. Unfortunately Wales outstretched his arms and absorbed the spell with some light blue invisible shielding... "Didn't I just say your attempts are in vain!?" shouted Wales before sharply thrusting his wand towards Kirche and Tabitha, blasting them violently off their feet.

"Kirche! Tabitha!" I shouted.

"Princess! Do you see it now!?" Said Louise "He isn't the Wales whom you once knew!"

The Princess looked like she was currently fighting with her better judgement, but she seemed to be holding onto the old Wales more then she acknowledged the new one. "No!" she shook her head "No! It can't be! He told me he would love me, Henrietta, for all eternity!"

I cringed at the thought of that... I mean... they were cousins... isn't that like... borderline incest or something... if not full blown incest? I mean I can understand that she'd love the guy, but romantically, it really didn't make any sense to me... however on the other hand, it was completely likely that she was inbred as well... call it a hunch... but I'm guessing Royalty only mix with Royalty and they think that breeding with their own will keep their family pure... uuuummmm... yeaaahhh... ok... you think that... I'm gonna go now and leave you to your sick little worlds now... bye-bye...

"Your Majesty your being foolish!" yelled Louise.

"Louise! Have you ever truly loved a person?" Henrietta asked, which seemed to catch Louise off guard...

"True love is about giving up everything just to be with him... so please..." the Princess began to plead "Stop obstructing us!"

"C'mon your majesty! Come to your senses, please!" begged Louise

"This is the queen's order, Louise Francoise! It's my last order for you..."

"w-what!?"

"You may have full authority over her... but not me..." I said and stepped forward, drawing my energy sword, it crackling to life in my hand, Magnum in the other hand.

"Alexander, not you too, I've already made up my mind, I'm going with Wales, I also order you to step aside..."

"Can't do that ma'am..." I said and everyone gasped I shock, that I'd just defied a direct order from the Queen...

"You... are defying your queen?" she hissed

I got a little miffed at that comment... "YOU ARE NOT MY QUEEN!" I bellowed, scaring the piss out of everyone nearby, including Henrietta... Wales also looked a bit nervous... "DO NOT TAKE ME FOR SOME IMBICEL OF A LOW DOWN SUBORDINATE! I'M NOT TRYING TO OBSTRUCT YOU..." I calmed down... "I'm trying to help you..." I was silent for a while "Henrietta, earlier you said you wanted me to be your friend... well... it might be different here, but back in my world, do you know how friendship works?"

She shook her head...

"Well, here it seems more or less all about a confidant or playmate... sure, the same can be said in my world, but one of the most important duties of a friend, it to not let their friends, do things stupid or reckless! And this... well this is all kinds of stupid and reckless! Can you not see through his lies! His... translucent husk which was once Wales, that which covers a more sinister person! He is NOT the Wales you knew, and if you insist on going, I will have no choice but to lay some serious beatings on Mister Fancy pants and proceeded to give you a royal spanking for you stupidity!" and before anyone could gasp or make another notion that I'd done something completely out of context I added "YES! I went there! Just shut up, and fucking deal with it!"

"I..." Henrietta looked like she was deeply processing what I'd just said... I swear if she said that she was still going with Wales, then I was going to rip them both a new asshole... Wales with my bullets, Henrietta with... well... actually... no... I'm not going to go there...

"I'm can't, I have to go with Wales, I will go wherever he goes..." ah... and new asshole ripping time has arrived...

"Well, guess I get to tear you a new one Wales..." I ran at him but he cast a gust at me, which I easily shrugged off, plowing through it (American)football style.

"Stay back!" Shrieked Henrietta who flailed her wand/mace-looking thing (It seriously looks like a mace to some degree...) and a giant ice wall shot up from the ground in front of me, blocking my path. I stabbed my energy sword into it and it began to melt through the ice wall, but it was taking some time...

"Y-you... W-will never lay a finger on Wales..." Henrietta's voice was wavering and shaky "P-please stop obstructing us..."

"Louise!" said Derf as he popped out of his sheath on my back "Even if partner gets through he won't be able to damage Wales unless you have a looksiee in the old spell book..."

"Spell book?" wondered Louise and looked through the book... I noticed a light shining from the book. "Dispel Magic?" she asked

"Yes! Yes!" Exclaimed Derf "It's only a matter of, what to cast it on... if partner can cut through in time, I'd say cast it on me, but partner might not have to to switch weapons, as his blue sword can't take any magical enchantments!"

I didn't pay attention to much of the conversation... but I noticed a blue light flickering in the corner of my HUD in my helmet... the ODST team was right behind the ice wall, out of sight of Wales and Henrietta...

"Louise!" I whispered, she came over to me... "The ODST team is in position behind this ice wall... if you can cast it on one of their weapons, I will tell them to take the shot..."

"Ok I can do that, where are they?"

I took one hand off my Energy sword and pointed in the direction of the ODST team and Louise nodded... however I managed to break through... but to my surprise Henrietta stood in front of me... blocking my path to Wales...

"If you want to get to Wales, you will need to get past me first..." she said, luckily for her, I didn't want to hurt her... if I didn't care for her safety I would have gladly chucked her aside... but that was not the case... however from behind me, through the hole I the ice wall we could hear chanting...

"_Blue Sirsas An Sudake, Kyo Fu Ni Do Narushis Haelus Yara deteo is!" _and a light impacted behind Wales and Henrietta...

"You may stop me... but you won't stop them..." I said "Fire!"

*BANG* a loud shot rang off through the night, leaving a imprint in the air it had passed through, making a line back to the shooter... the team of ODSTs stepped out, as Prince Wales fell to the ground, clutching his chest and shaking like he had just been electrified... reminded me of Louise whenever I tazed her...

The ODST Sergeant Dempsey led his squad out of the woods and looked at his smoking sniper rifle in awe. "I'm pretty sure my rifle doesn't fire electrified rounds... what's with that?"

"Magic..." I explained and got a few WTF looks from the ODSTs... and then the rain let up and I could hear a faint sobbing...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We all stood over Henrietta, who cried over Wales's body... mind you we kept a slight distance from them... Henrietta's sobs must have hit a soft spot in me, cuz I couldn't help but feel a bit sad... despite I knew what I was doing was the right choice...

Suddenly Wales's hand began to move and I put my hand on my holstered Magnum just in case... but I was fine... "Henrietta..."

Henrietta looked up from her tears for a moment to look back at the dying prince. "Wales..."

I was going to leave out the fact that they were related to the ODSTs who were standing off to the side, fixing the Warthog, but Private Kashlow was observing while the others did the bulk of the work.

"Henrietta, stop crying... before I leave once and for all, I want you to forgive me, and make an oath..." the prince choked out.

"An oath? What oath shall I make?" asked Henrietta, her tears halting only for the briefest period... then starting again.

The Prince was silent for a while, he then stared at Henrietta, right in the eyes... "Forget about me..." he said, though the words sounded pained "Make an oath to forget about me... fall in love with another guy... make my death have some meaning... I wish to hear those words... please... Henrietta... beside the Lake of Lagdorian, with the Water Sprit as witness... make that oath..."

"I... I can't make an oath like that!" Cried Henrietta.

"Please... do it Henrietta..." his voice was growing weaker.

"Please, can't anyone do anything to save him!?" Pleaded Henrietta... then Private Kashlow stepped forward, he had a red cross on his helmet, the sign of the team medic... he swiped a scanner over the prince... then frowned "No... I can't..."

"W-why!?"

"His vitals are already flatlined... it says here he should be dead already..." Kashlow scratched his chin "If that the commander said is true, about the reanimation and stuff... I'd take a wager that it's simply the magic wearing off... he's already dead, his time is limited as of right now... once the magic has fully worn off, that's it... he's done." Explained Kashlow "But here, this should ease the suffering." He injected Wales with a heavy dose of morphine, enough to overdose a man and kill him, but given the circumstances... it wouldn't make a difference, he then returned to his original spot...

"Please... Henrietta... make the oath..."

"No no! I won't make the oath, stop lying you will be fine! Cried Henrietta

"Stop playing it up Henrietta, you know I'm dying... you heard the soldier... I'm running out of time..." said Wales with only a little bit of reduced pain in his voice due to the painkillers.

"In that case... make me an oath... an oath that you will love me! Love me for all eternity! I will make an oath not to the Wales of the past, but to Wales of the present!"

"Were it so easy..." sighed the Prince "But..." the prince coughed up a bit of blood, a tear trickling out of his eye "But dead men can't make oaths of eternity... Henrietta... please... forgive me... three years ago I couldn't speak these words... due to my... inevitable fate... GAH!" Wales shuttered and a pool of blood started to form under where Wardes had stabbed him a while back...

"Wales!"

"I'm glad to have met you... Henrietta..." The prince's voice began to trail off "I love you... For-eve-er..." the prince's hand went slack and his head fell back.

"Wales! Wales! Please open your eyes!" Pleaded Henrietta who began to cry deep and loud... "Wales... WAAAALES!" Her sobs could probably be heard from the other end of the lake... and her tears actually made me want to cry... I put on my helmet so that no one had to see my face... which was seizing up... I had a part in this death... I had a part in her sadness... I was to blame for her pain... it was, all. My. Fault...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX **

* * *

**Damn, that last part always wanted to make me cry (it did the first time I watched it) I wish all my death scenes in my fanfics were as dramatic as this... but alas... tis not!**

**Anyways, you know the drill! :P**

**Since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**PS: Thanks to your support as of May the 9th 2013, this is my longest fic yet, nearing 100K in word length... which for me, is a great achievement! Maybe worth... 100G or gamerscore on XBL? Maybe a Gold trophy on PSN? Who knows? But either way I want to thank you guys for getting me this far, I doubt I would have made it this far without your (for the most part) supportive reviews and faves and follows! I've said it before but I'll say it again, you guys are awesome!**

**Stay awesome bros, I know you will, and here come the Fan-fist... Mehhhooooowwww!**

**WTYL guys :D**

**Rogue2k8 is out!**

**(Yes, I quoted Pewdiepie... I love the guy, no homo...)**


	16. Surrounded by Green!

**Hey guys, know the part where Anies and the others go under the school to find those lost documents? Well... I have huge plans for that, plans for a major plot twist! Might cause the addition of a new chapter or two which greatly differ from the plot of the Original Zero No Tsukaima.**

* * *

A few days after the _Princess-has-Been-Kidnapped _dilemma, all the guys in the academy were saying goodbye to their loved ones in what I would have labeled as a _cheesy _way... everyone was gathered in the front-centeral courtyard, hugging each other and praying for their safety. Meanwhile Louise and I stood at the front of all of them, looking back at them, my helmet under my arm

"I guess they were serious when they said they would launch an attack on Tristain..." Said Louise

"But... Tristain hasn't even declared war yet... I mean I know a retaliation is understandable but, what I don't get is, why if Albion, declared war on Tristain, then wouldn't that mean Tristain has to by default to declare war on Albion, and in that case..." I trailed off "I actually forgot where I was going with that little rant..."

"Well then... it surprises me that they even let all the male students join the army..." added Louise

"Which raises another point, if they _allowed_ them to enlist, you'd think a few would prefer, _not _walking to their deaths... and stay here, but... aside from me and the peasant staff members, I don't see any guy who's gonna stay here... looks more like they were drafted to me..." I sighed, then remembered what sort of world I was in "Mind you if it has to do with your fucking honor, then... well... I guess I can understand why they are going... hell if I understand the logic in that, but I understand why they would go if that's the case." Then a thought hit me... I liked this thought... damn my adolescent brain... "Wait... if all the other guys are going off to battle... all the others in the academy that is... then... why, I'll be other only guy to remain here..." I sensed a shift in the air and dodged a swing from Louise who then bellowed.

"Oh, and what's _that _supposed to mean!"

I sighed and shook my head, that girl would never change... then we noticed something flying up in the distance, in the sky... as it got closer I could finally distinguish it. "A dragon?" I wondered as the beast landed, causing a small hurricane to almost blow everyone off their feet... 'cept me of course...

Then some dude with a white and golden lined robe and blue cloak jumped off the back of the dragon, he landed with a sort of elegant grace, then brushed back a bit of his ruffled blonde hair. Something about him set me off instantly...

After the guy had done that, all the girls, maybe even Louise, swooned and giggled, some commenting on how charming or handsome he was... why didn't I get this kind of treatment!? I mean in honestly his and my hair were almost the same! Since my hair had grown out since I'd gotten here and I'd never cut it since I had... but I had styled it to prevent it from getting in my eyes... which occasionally failed... I needed to see a barber and get a buzz cut soon... oh! Back to the subject of Fancy Pants, I wanted to just punch all the girls here in the face for being so... loose... was that the word? Loose... shallow maybe? Given the fact that they all turned on a dime from wishing their boyfriends and lovers their best wishes and hopes of seeing them again after the war and what-not... now they were all swooning and gawking over this one guy, RIGHT WHILE THE REST OF THE GUYS WERE STILL STANDING THERE! I don't know much about relationships and all that, but I'm pretty sure that what most of the girls were doing, is a BAD thing! Most if not all of the guys around here had looks of disappointment, anger and as I'm calling it, the: _OMGWTF are you serious_ face... which I think also described my face pretty well by the way!

Fancy Pants walked up to Louise and I, shushing everyone as he did. "Hello, I'm Julio Chesare, I'm a transfer student from Romalia, nice to meet you..." he smiled and there was something unnatural about it... I swear he used to many whiting strips this morning cuz his teeth looked bleached white shiny!

*sigh* this was gonna be a _Fuuuuun _visit I could tell... (Sarcasm by the way)

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I yawned as Mr. Colbert spoke during today's lesson... oddly enough, I actually took a bit of interest in his lessons, took my mind off of... other things... *Glances at Louise* but I digress...

"And so" said Colbert, holding a metal rod over a small flame in his hand "We can use the flames to raise the temperature of the metals so they mix and dull down after they've glowed yellow for a while..." he rotated the rod over the flame, "Did you know that alloys such as these couldn't be created without a high temperature like this?"

Meh, nothing I didn't already know, I'd seen the forges here already and I was able to put two-and-two together easily enough... also I knew my share about welding, ship building and weapons manufacturing... that along with the lessons taught during my Spartan Lessons.

I looked around the classroom... and mentally groaned, I was un-amused... all the girls were staring at the new Fancy Pants in the middle of the room like he was the quarterback of the returning school football team after they'd won the championship! Or at least something relatable to the situation... you get my meaning... I hope...

I heard mutterings, something about a Shinto-Priest, whatever that is, which was why he wasn't allowed to join the army... which I thought was a lame excuse... he had the look of a crusader on him so I highly doubted he was any sort of a pacifist.

"sheitza" I said (Shh-aight-za) "Why is every girl looking at him!? I mean he's not that different from me!" then I thought about the fact that I scared the living hell out of nearly everyone... "Well... I mean... I can be a nice person...! When I want..." I sighed "But seriously, is Fancy Pants really _that _good?"

Louise scoffed "Well he's definitely better then a certain dog from elsewhere..."

I glared at her "Watch it..." I said wagging a finger at her "My tolerance level is low, to mind what you say." There was no emotion in my voice as I was too tired to add any... (this lesson in particular almost put me to sleep, since I already knew all this, why it might have been chemistry for all I knew!) "Besides... it's not like a really care what others thing... just something about him pisses me off... what's-more aren't you also quite keen on checking him out? Eh?"

"I resent that!" Louise exclaimed

It looked like she was going to go off on another rant but before she could launch into it the classroom doors burst open and a group of female knights ran in. I recognized the lead one, but I don't think she noticed me... yet...

"Everyone gather at the Assembly area!" said Anies

"And you might be?" asked Colbert

"I'm Anies de Milan, from her Majesty's Gunpowder Squad, and in order to train the royal army for battle, we will be using the academy for the time being. And till then, all classes are being suspended, effective immediately!"

"Immediately!?" exclaimed Colbert

"Everyone go out to the assembly area now, quickly!"

Everyone started to get up out of their seats until Mr. Colbert stopped us... "No! Students, take your seats!" everyone stared at him in both confusion and shock... "We will continue with our lesson."

"Teacher..." said Anies with a growling tone "This is wartime! It's not the time for lessons!"

"Yes, but because it is wartime, they need to learn about the foolishness of fighting a war! Although all the male students have been enlisted, would you kindly stop talking about war in school?!" I sensed Colbert went a little to far as Anies seemed to lose patience, drawing her sword suddenly and pointing it at Colbert's neck. Catching him and the students off guard, causing an awkward and worrisome tension.

"Shut up!" she yelled... I didn't like it when people used force on mere civilians... especially when they didn't have the legitimate authority... where were her papers, I wanted to see papers! There were no papers, so as far as I was concerned, she had no authority over him...

*Bang*

"AAH!" Anies cried out as a bullet passed clean through her hand and her sword clattered to the ground. The other knights all looked at me and drew their weapons...

"Tut-tut-tut!" I said and pressed a button on my Tac-pad and in seconds a team of Marines breached through the windows and all aimed their MA5Ds at the Gunpowder squad... making them all lower their weapons...

"Man you guys work fast!" I said to Private Woods, who happened to be one of the marines with the team, along with Sergeant Jude Montgomery and Private William Mason... and a fresh face, Corporal David Jones, an African American looking man with a buzz cut.

Finally Anies noticed me and stepped back a bit in fear, clutching her wounded hand "W-wha... why?!"

"I don't see any papers on you... surely you must have some proof that these orders came from the Queen, whom, after such a retarded display of incompetence, YES! I said she's incompetent! From a couple days ago, I would have to say that even if the orders came from her, I'd have to ask what the fuck is she thinking!?"

"I can't believe you'd call the Queen incompetent like that" whispered Louise

"Well... she is to some extent..." I replied "Which reminds me I have to slap her next I see her, as a punishment for being so stupid!" I raised my voice "However, I am inclined to somewhat agree with you on this, Anies... Mr. Colbert, is it wrong to fight for one's country? Their home? If you have an unyielding aggressor who will stop at nothing to see you and all you stand for destroyed... wouldn't you fight? In fact I'm kinda shocked at how you think you can just stand there and do nothing while the armies of Tristain's enemies plot and scheme away! As for you Anies, I agree with you... but it's the WAY you went about it that pisses me off! Next time show some goddamned respect and learn to hold your tongue and blade! That goes for you two Mr. Colbert..." I sighed "Jeeez, I hate being the middleman..." I turned to the other students "Now then, to the assembly area... nice and easy... we'll get this sorted out and you won't be going to any wars... consider this as... training, for the home guard? Hmm?" I tried to sell the idea, but I don't know to how many it stuck... meanwhile Fancy Pants was up in the corner smirking his ass off... smug bastard...

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We were all outside, the girls stood in formation with weird ass staves in their hands, looked like they'd break like a toothpick those would! I shook my head, this was such a rudimentary way of soldiering... but given the tech levels of this world I wasn't surprised... meanwhile Jude, Jenny, William, Jones and myself all sat near the wall watching the training...

"Attention!" said Anies in a commanding tone "Training will now commence!"

"Hold up!" said Monmon "We are mages! Not soldiers! We don't need these crude implements! Be it attack or defend all we need to be doing is practicing our battle magic!"

"Magic eh?" Anies smirked and then quickly snatched away Monmon's wand with her bad hand (It had a bloodied bandage around it after it had been healed partially by a water mage, she said she didn't have time for a full heal) and held Monmon's wrist with her good hand. "Try it then! Defeat me with magic!" she taunted and me and the marines couldn't help but snicker, in all fairness, Monmon had that coming...

"Owwie!"

"See! You can't do anything once your wand is gone! If I were a real enemy, you'd be dead by now!"

"Let go of me!"

Anies let go of Montmorency abruptly before starting to walk away. "You won't know what will happen in a real battle, so it's best to be prepared" she threw the wand back to Monmon. Her training was harsh, not as harsh as Mendez from Spartan Training, but her methods reminded me of his. They were cruel and sometimes painful (For Mendez they were both excruciatingly cruel and painful) but effective!

"Now listen up! We will begin the basic training now, this will teach you how to protect yourselves in battle... begin!"

Ok... I take it back... the training was terrible... they didn't teach them any moves, they didn't train them on how to counter an attack or block properly... they just stuck them with another student and let them have at it... a fun method but alas, it is an ineffective one... I then noticed a crowd of girls... all of them crowded around one guy, Julio... I steamed, what was so good about him anyways? I for one didn't trust him! That and he was just a stuck up and annoying brat just like the rest of the nobles around here! I couldn't hear the conversations that were going on in the crowd due to the training sounds, but after a while Julio made his way over to Louise and tried to convince her to spar with him... which he succeeded, while she failed miserably... I steamed again...

"Why that mister know it all, Fancy Pants, asshole!" I muttered, but apparently Private Woods heard me...

"Sir, don't tell me you have feelings for that girl?" said Jenny

"What!" I exclaimed

"Haha!" said Derf who popped out of his sheath, "finally someone other than me who notices!" oddly enough Jenny wasn't surprised at all by the talking sword...

"No!" I added "I just don't trust that guy! Also he's a stuck up know it all who-" I got cut off as I rolled out of the way of a sword swipe, well... a wooden sword swipe... then another wooden sword was thrown at my feet. I looked up to see Michelle, Anies's purple haired Lieutenant, standing there expectantly.

"What?" I asked

"Stand up... I want to see how good you really are." She said

"Ok..." I took the sword and stood up "Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"Um... but... ok... now... trust me here... but you reeeeeaaaaaalllly don't want to fight me..."

"Sounds like a coward's trick to me" retorted Michelle.

Then Jenny, Jude, David and William all chimed in at the same time, their voices ringing in perfect and humorous harmony "Trust us, you reeeeeaaaaalllly don't want to fight him."

"I'd listen to them if I were you..." I added

"You do intend to fight should the enemy show up here yes? Then show me that you can even fight! Be a man!"

"Ok..." I sighed "You asked for it... I hold no reasonability for what is about to happen..."

She swung the wooden sword at me, which personally I found to move at a slugs pace due to my heightened battle senses... I just threw the wooden sword aside, grabbed her sword, twisted it out of her hand, grabbing it in the process, pulling her in towards me and proceeding to clothesline her across the face. Aaaaaaand she was down for the count... probably the rest of the day too...

"Wow..." said Fancy Pants who walked over after he saw me quickly KO the Elite soldier. "That's pretty impressive, I was going to ask for a match later, to test your strength... but... I don't think that's necessary after this display."

"Thanks... I think..." I grumbled, his compliments to me meant nothing, I still knew next to nothing about him... I also didn't like his know-it-all look, which seriously pissed me off... then my Tacpad started to blink. I pressed the open channel button...

*chk* "Sir, you need to come to the firebase ASAP" *chk* said a marine over the communications channel.

"Affirmative, I'll be there momentarily. Spartan 362 out." I spoke back into my Tacpad before putting my helmet back on... "I'll be back..." and I double timed it over to the UNSC firebase outside the academy. Once I'd gotten there I entered the HQ building, followed by the other marines who had been with me and found Sgt Major Stacker looking at a pile of papers, documents and pictures.

"Sgt. Stacker, you sent for me?" I asked

Stacker looked up from his papers, "Ah yes sir! That I did... um... well, how do I put this... follow me."

I nodded and me and half minus one of Fireteam Bravo (Jude, Jenny, David and William) followed Stacker out towards the armory and once we entered we saw ten of the local peasants from all across Tristain... they were all holding MA5Ds... a few of them were holding it backwards...

"Eh-heh... What is this?" I asked humorlessly, with a hint of WTF.

"Princess- oh sorry- Queen Henrietta sent them over, since we have surplus weapons and ammo, and are missing Fireteam Charlie I agreed for her to send them. They are to replace Fireteam Charlie and we're gonna see about getting them suited up and trained... call it a bit of a field experiment. If this works out, we will be able to recruit more troops from the local population... our technicians can make more weapons and ammo if we can secure mining rights, albeit at a slower pace than if we had factories running... but still, as I was saying if this works out we will be able to strengthen our numbers without UNSC support..." explained Stacker

"Ok..." I said, slowly getting where he was going with this... "So how goes it so far?" and Stacker's optimistic attitude dissolved to more of a stressed and worn out expression.

"Terrible..." he sighed

"So why do you need me?"

"I want you to help train them! I'm no drill sergeant! Surely you've got some kind of military training locked up in that Spartan brain of yer's to pass onto these sad excuses for soldiers!"

I turned to the peasants "were you guys forced to come?" I asked... they hesitated to reply... but finally one of them told me that the Queen had put out posters on the village walls, and town criers had been talking about it... they were all volunteers... thankfully... otherwise I'd have to slap Henrietta twice... one for being stupid and other for violating human rights...

"Alright I'll take a crack at it..." I said to Stacker... "ALRIGHT! You peasants!" I shouted. "Stacker may not have been training you my way... hence... we're changing to my way! Simple as that! I don't take slackers and I don't take pansies! Now double time it to the firing range! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

Some of the peasants were so startled by my loudness that they dropped their guns before running with all they had towards the firing range... I guess Stacker had shown them it already... it was below the HQ building, along with the mess hall, war room and intelligence room. I walked briskly outside, running in front of a peasant and pushing him out of the way as the lone Scorpion Tank almost ran him over, I gave both the peasant and the tank driver shit for their actions. The peasant had to run a lap around the base before joining us (And that was me being lenient) and I took the Tank driver's tank driving privileges for a week... locking it up in the motor pool.

Finally I made it to the firing range where all the peasants were lined up waiting for me... before we started I inspected over each and every one of them. We had nine males and one female... three of the men were built strong and burly... I wrote them down for heavy weapons duty if they passed the firing range. Four of them were of average build and two were thinner... while the woman was slender and had very little muscle on her... I didn't know their names, nor did I care much to know them at the time, so for the moment I gave them all callsigns for me to refer to them as: (some of which I hadn't given them yet as I waited until later... until then I just referred to them as "You" or "Maggot" or "Some other derogatory term/insulting name"

Beefstick: Bulky male, brown hair, brown eyes. Notable features: Untidy hair, grins weirdly...

Hardcase: Bulky male, blonde hair, blue eyes. Notable features: Has an itchy trigger-finger, jumpy, hyper...

Tubs: Bulky male, bald, brown stubble beard, brown eyes. Notable features: Scar on chin and forehead, VERY baritone voice...

Echo: Average male, amber hair and eyes, oddly had a brown stubble beard. Notable features: Weird hair color combination...

Fives: Average male, purple hair, green eyes. Notable features: N/A

Dogma: Average male, brown hair in a ponytail, five o'clock shadow. Notable features: Only guy with a pony tail...

Breach: Average male, red hair, green eyes. Notable features: N/A

Cutup: Skinny male, blonde hair, blue eyes. Notable features: N/A

Skinny: Skinny male, blonde hair, blue eyes. Notable features: N/A (Twin of Cutup apparently)

Snips: Slender Female, red hair, green eyes. Notable features: Attitude...

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So I finally got them up to the range... first up was Tubs... I gave him an MA5D and told him to hit the targets down range... to which he went "uuuhhhhh..." and I told him how to fire... he shot... but his aim sucked...

"Are you even aiming!?" I exclaimed.

"Aiming?"

I wanted to strangle him... I now understood why Sgt. Stacker looked so pissed off... I walked up to him, snatched the gun from him and showed them all how to hold it properly and reload the gun... I changed tactics and unloaded all their Assault Rifles and handed them back to them... I wanted to see if they could even get the positioning right... Snips, Skinny and Cutup got the positioning the fastest and actually remembered it from then on afterwards. Dogma and Breached followed soon after and also remembered how to hold it ever since... however once Fives, Echo and Hardcase got it down they needed a reminder every now and then for a while... Beefstick and Tubs were the worst to deal with... I had to whack them over the head every time they got it wrong... Tubs was just stupid... while Beefstick just wanted to tear up anything that came near him... I HAD to bash some discipline into that guy's head and fast...

After positioning was taught, I moved onto reloading and maintaining the gun... simple really... well... for all but Beefstick... again... everyone else understood the concept of reloading the gun pretty quickly, however I doubted they would know how to reload a SPNkr when the time came... (Rocket launcher slang name)... however DMRs, Battle Rifles, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles and SMGs all reloaded similarly... Pistols were easy to reload, even a novice could figure it out in seconds... rockets, shotguns, railguns and grenade launchers would have to be taught separately... I doubted I would find the patience to teach them how to use Covie weapons...

After many hours at the range many of the recruits had gotten down the basics of shooting and maintaining their guns... I was VERY impressed with Cutup's performance with a Battle-Rifle and Snips accuracy with a DMR. Cutup and Skinny had hit all their targets without missing once! Skinny and Hardcase actually ranked the next best in accuracy and performance... then Dogman, Fives, Echo and Breach... lastly of course came Tubs and Beefstick... Beefstick in dead last of course...

"Alright... that's enough shooting for one day!" I yelled over the gunfire. I had them all put their guns down on the table at the front of the range for another day. "Now that that's done... evening is fast approaching... and you know what that means?"

No one replied...

"Time for the night games!" I said... oh jeez... how my training attitude reminded me of Mendez... I lead them outside and away from the base... I'd had Sgt. Stacker and some of Fireteam Alpha set up and man an assault course nearby... in... _Perfect _terrain... and by perfect I mean... horrible! Which is perfect!

The marines had soaked the course so that it was all muddy... it was simply a stretch of muddy land with barbed wires, bunkers, towers and obstacles the greenhorns would have to traverse before they got the go to mess hall... they all had to run it under three minutes, a very reasonable time I think... Mendez would have made us run it in thirty seconds or less... which in turn, would cause us to run it indifferently... or until we passed out from exhaustion...

The course was set like this; five coils of barbed wire overtop a low ditch, which the recruits would have to crawl under, followed by a series of two towers which they'd have to climb these cargos nets up to the top then run along a flimsy bridge with two ropes on either side for hand rails. Next was a set of target dummies which each recruit would have to tackle over before moving on... next was another set of barbed wire, but this time I had _live _machine gun fire going overtop their heads (It wasn't live since we couldn't afford to waste ammo, but I wasn't telling them that... it'd still sting like a bitch if they got hit mind you). After that they had to swim through a muddy pit, which was about three meters deep... I had two marines on standby in case anyone looked like they might drown... after that was a rope swing, they'd have to swing across two sets of ropes then move onto the last part of the course which was set of low logs, raised slightly that they'd have to fault over, followed by more logs which had been set up in a line, which they'd have to dike and weave around in a sprint to the finish... they had three minutes to do this...

Once I'd revealed this to them I noticed Breach, Echo and Skinny groan I made the whole group do thirty push ups... for each person who groaned... ninety push-ups in total... and just to be mean I used my fucked up logic to round it to a hundred... I made them do a hundred push-ups in total... it took maybe five minutes for everyone to finish... then finally once they had all gotten tired out, I made them run the assault course...

Fives and Hardcase made it through the course in the record time of two minutes; I sent them off to the mess hall... Beefstick made it next followed by Echo... I sent them off...

Now... if I was really as cruel as Mendez... I would have made them wait until EVERYONE had finished before going off to eat... which would have pissed them off BADLY!

Dogma and Breach failed the time limit along with Skinny, Cutup and Snips... they had to run back and try again... finally Cutup and Snips made it in two minutes and fifty seconds... Breach barely made the time limit with two minutes and fifty-nine seconds... Skinny and Dogma had to run it again... and again... Skinny finally made it after five runs... while Dogma kept going... nearly out of breath... on his tenth attempt, which he failed yet again... I walked up to him, laying on the ground and yelled into his face that he was "The most useless and saddest excuse of a marine I'd ever seen." And sent him packing to the mess hall... I think Mendez would have been proud of me... then again... maybe not... knowing his personality and all... but eventually I wrapped it up myself and called it a day for training... heading back to the mess hall and grabbing a quick bite before heading to the barracks and going to sleep... I figured Louise would figure out where I was sooner or later...

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The next morning I was awoken by Corporal William Mason again... I sat up abruptly, nearly whacking my head against the above bunk... "What!?" I groaned "Did the Queen get kidnapped again!?"

"Erm... no sir" said Mason "But there is a purple haired girl out there for you... Michelle I think her name was...

"Oh... I'll be there in a moment..." I pulled myself out of my bunk and re-equipped my MJOLNIR armor before heading out to the front gate of the base, to find the gate guards arguing with Michelle, who wanted to come in and look for me personally. However the guards simply replied no one without authorization from me or Sgt. Stacker was allowed in the base. Eventually however, she saw me... I approached her...

"What is it you want?" I asked

"Emergency meeting..." she glared at the marine gate guards "That's all I can say here..."

I sighed "Fine... lead on..."

She lead me back towards the Academy and into a small room with only one table and a chair behind it... there also stood a hooded figure whom I couldn't I.D at the time... I also noticed Anies and... I glanced to my side... Julio... or Fancy Pants... whatever...

Anies sent Michelle back down, while I flipped out at Fancy Pants... "What the hell are you doing here!? I thought you were a priest of something! Shouldn't you be praying or some shit!?" the guy bugged me, what can I say...

"I'm just waiting until my comrades join us here, so we can get this meeting underway..." he replied

"Comrade?" I mumbled "You're kidding right?"

"No he's not..." said the hooded figure... who turned around and lowered her hood.

"Your majesty!" exclaimed Louise, who bowed and quickly knelt before her as she approached us... I glanced at Anies, who shrugged... I took that as a go for it... I was going to bide my time for now however... I'd find a dramatic moment to do it... maybe... if I had the patience...

"Alexander, Louise... thank you for the other day... I'm very sorry..."

Fuck it, I couldn't help it...

*SLAP* I _lightly _slapped Henrietta across the face... mind you... when I say lightly... I mean I didn't hit her hard enough to break anything... but it would still hurt quite a bit...

"Owwww..." she held a hand to her face and rubbed the red spot where I'd back handed her... Louise had just gasped and looked like she wanted to strangle me... Anies looked at me like she was glad that I was able to do something she wanted to do, but most likely wouldn't get away with doing... Julio on the other hand looked like he didn't care...

"Stupid! Why were you so stupid!" I said in a high-pitched tone, trying to make my point... "Stop being stupid!" I returned my voice to normal "I will have you know I'm not going to let you just live' this down... you will remember your dumb choices for the next little while and I will not let you forget..."

"I..." Henrietta paused, shocked that I'd just hit her... "I'm sorry... I know my decisions were reckless... but... I... I... I didn't know what to do... I was being indecisive and I just went with what my gut said... I know what I did was wrong... but... wouldn't you go with the one you loved, after you though he or she was dead?"

I glared at her... and I guess she guessed my answer "No" I said "If it meant the fate of an entire nation, then no, I wouldn't have!" however a small part of me felt like I was lying... I guess at this point however, if you think about it, I really had no one to love right now, so I guess my opinion was a bit biased...

"Anyways..." interrupted Julio "I had heard these things about Wales... turns out it was a conspiracy devised by Albion..."

This new news made me want to slap Henrietta again... but I stayed my hand... "Ok... but that still doesn't explain why you're really here." I said.

"I told you, I'm your comrade..." said Julio

"Oh do tell..." I replied sarcastically... apparently he didn't get it...

"The Pope of Romalia is worried about the actions of Albion too..." said Julio...

"A Pope? Here? Wow... how generic..." I mused "But as you were saying..."

"Yes... as I was saying, the Pope sent me over to assist the Princess..."

Then Henrietta took over "The pope and I have tried our best to prevent the outbreak of war... but... it seems that our efforts are in vain... and the situation is grim as it is..." the princess turned to us "Louise, Julio, Anies and Alexander... you four are the only ones I can depend on right now."

"Yes my Princess!" said Louise

I then put two and two together and I didn't like what I came up with "So, let me get this straight... is seems that you... the queen... is trying to attempt to gather her own troops from the academy..."

"What does that mean!?" snapped Louise "Are you going to bear a grudge against the Princess!?"

"No..." I sighed "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it... plus... I'm also thinking about what Mr. Colbert said yesterday..."

"Pfft" Anies scoffed "Don't bring war into the academy was it?"

"Alexander... I have no intention of brining war into the academy... I'm just borrowing the strength of the people in order to bring peace..." she faltered as she noticed my facial expression.

I looked at her like she was high... "I _really _fail to see the logic in that... let me ask you... were you high when you made this decision? Cuz honestly, your argument that you're not _brining war _into the academy... reeeaaaaalllly made you sound like a retard... I'm seriously regretting calling you a _good _leader..." everyone looked at me, again, in shock, that I'd just insulted the princess again... "I mean that's like saying, _hey! I'm not going to break that knife of yours! I'm just borrowing it so I can throw it against the rocks!_" I sighed "No matter how you look at it, directly or indirectly you ARE bringing war into the academy... I understand you have good intentions... but good intentions don't always lead to good outcomes... trust me... I know..." I hoped I got my point across... but she was a stubborn brat... she was cute... but still... very, VERY stubborn...

"But... what about you? Will you help me?" she asked and Damnit! How could I say no to that face...

"Fine..." I groaned

"So it's settled then..." said Julio... and walked over to Louise "I look forward to working with you Miss Valliere" he said and kissed her hand making Louise blush very red...

"Wow..." I sighed and rolled my eyes... "Louise your face is so red right now..."

She steamed "N-no it's not!"

"Isn't red my ass! Its totally fuckin' red right now!" I retorted

"bah what do you know!? Your just a dog and do you really intend to disobey your master?" said a shrill Louise.

"GAH!" I strained "Stop calling me a damned dog!"

"Dog! Dog! Dog, dog, dog!" what was she a five year old? Real mature Louise... real mature... I sighed an looked over at the princess who was staring out the window... I guess it was only a matter of time now... until the war finally begun in earnest...

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**Thanks so much guys, this story has broken many, many personal records! For which make me very happy! And a happy writer writes better right? But any-who... you know the drill!**

**Since I put so much time into writing these for you, why not leave me a review? Telling me what you did, or didn't like, with constructive criticism and tips welcome along with anything you might want to see in future chapters which I will take into consideration! Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so that you can stay in the know of future updates? Remember that all of the above help me in staying motivated to write this story... thanks allot guys!**

**Now as usual... WTYL :D!**

**PS: I update usually every two days and not on weekends or holidays or similarities. So just saying that I've got a long weekend coming up, so no updates on Friday (since I only update every two days) or Saturday, Sunday (Weekend) Monday (Victoria Day [I'm Canadian]) and Tuesday (Professional-development day.) so next update should be on Wensday.**


	17. Just for the record

**To be frank, I was really thinking of skipping this chapter... since there is nearly no real plot importance in my opinion, but on the other hand, it would make Scorch's meeting with Eleanor and Chi-nesama (I forgot her name at the moment, I'll remember it later...) would be awkward to say the least, so, I'll just get it over with... consider this episode/chapter as filler or something... also prepare for this chapter to be... more... boring... then the others and much more **_**plot sticky**_** if that makes sense...****  
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**PS: I'm going to experiment next chapter or the next by making a new chapter from scratch, as in, not based on the actual anime, so that I can clearly change the plot of the story. Bear with me, that, if I do that, then it will likely be a much shorter chapter than usual. That is _if _I even do it...**

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*thud* I fell flat on the pile of cloth and straw in Louise's room, I didn't care where I slept to be honest, I just wanted to lay down...

"What's your problem?" asked Louise, who looked down at me from her bed, rolled over to her side with her chin casually rested on her palm.

"Training... new recruits... sooooo green... it's not even funny..." I explained. The new Fireteam Charlie was a nightmare to train... I almost wanted to call them the N00b squad but since they had never wielded weapons such as ours I guess their skill level was understandable... they were all in great shape, able to easily run the assault course and take any punishments I dealt out due to their incompetence... the one nicknamed Snips had 'tude but she was a natural leader and expert marksman... Hardcase and Cutup were also to be commended however the others all head major flaws... attitude, discipline, weapons handling, etc, etc... I thought about shortening the assault course time limit to only two minutes... the course was short by comparison to other ones on Reach and Earth but hey, we only had limited land... I remembered the Marines who had escorted them to the armory on the first day had given them rifles before getting Stacker to come over and get me... good choice, when I first got there half of them didn't even know how to hold the damn thing! We were supposed to go _hunting _with the new troops so they could get their first taste of battle in our world... and by hunting, I mean hunting Covies... they were bound to have small camps scattered here and there since they had their Super-Carrier in orbit...

"Sound's rough..." Louise sighed

"You don't know the half of it..."

"Well they _are _all peasants..."

"So? Big deal if they're all peasants... me and Stacker have vowed to make them into... at least... somewhat capable marines! Even if it kills us..." I narrowed my eyes in annoyance "Which it might for all I know..."

"Have you tried beating them? Works with you sometimes..."

I glared at her... making her smirk back at me in an expression that dripped with attitude. "Shut up" I sighed "And yes, I have whacked them, made them do push-ups, made them run laps around the base, taken away mess hall, weapon, sleep and other privileges, the works really... but it only seems to be getting through to half of them..." it was conversations like this, when Louise and I weren't at each other's throats that I liked... the rare moments when she broke character from her bitchy and bratty usual self...

I got back up "Well... I'm gonna go back to the base... get some food..." I walked towards the door but before I could open the door it burst open in my face and I got whacked in the nose by the door, putting me on my back and making me see stars...

"Whoooooaaaaaa... dizzy..." I groaned, my head pounding like a bitch... I wondered why sometimes I was able to tank hits like this on a regular basis but at the most inconvenient times I'd end up wimping out... I wondered if it was due to the cloning process or some unimaginable type of fate called plot convenience... however since this is real life, I was going to go with the former.

"Louise! Chibi-Louise!" shouted a commanding voice... I'd never heard the word Chibi until now so I had no clue what it meant...

"S-s-s-Sister Eleanor!" exclaimed Louise, and if my half conscious mind was working properly I would have guessed that was her crazy psychopathic sister she had ranted about one night...

"If see you are up early... good... pack your stuff up, we're leaving..." said Eleanor. I finally regained myself and got to see what she looked like... you could classify her as a nerdy looking blonde... certainly stuck up went without saying... her hair style was similar to Louise's and I could see the resemblance in their personalities instantly... also... they were both flat... just adding that last bit... ehehe...

"Wh-what?" Louise asked.

"You heard me, now hurry up!" she yelled and Louise flinched... if Louise was scared of her, I wondered if I should be, then thought better of it...

"We're going home, I don't have all day!"

"WHAT!?"

Meanwhile I was still in the WTF was going on stage... any moment now I figured I would go into the realization stage and freak out as well but that moment didn't come... because Louise grabbed the back of my armor and pulled me along... Damnit... sometimes I hated energy shields but sometimes I loved them... if they didn't diminish in a specific location while it was in contact with the ground it would cause the armor to slide along the surface like melting butter... a problem with the early stages of MJOLNIR but was fixed part way into it's development... apparently my ass didn't get the memo... I was dragged outside still in the WTF stage when Eleanor pointed to a passing Siesta...

"You, maid, over there, you are coming too!"

Siesta made no argument as her expression also turned to WTF as she was dragged along my Eleanor herself... eventually we were both thrown into the rear carriage that Eleanor had brought with her, while Louise and her sister got into the front one... on the way there I swear I heard Stacker mutter something from the school gate... something about wondering whether he should pity me, or hang his head in shame... or slap me and call me a lucky bastard... but I could do without his hand-outs!

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Siesta and I were in the rear carriage, which had made its way to the front after a series of events beginning with Louise complaining about something... I could take a guess at what...

"Weeeellllll... uh..." I started to Siesta who was right next to me... "It sure it a tad... cramped... in here right? um... are you ok?" I asked "You've been really quiet..."

"Y-yeah... sorry" she replied timidly

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"He's getting close to her again!" I yelped from the now rear carriage... but was abruptly grabbed by the cheek by Eleanor...

"Chibi-Louse! I'm still talking to you!" hissed my sister.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, eldest sister!" she let go of me and I put a hand on my now red cheek...

"Since we've begun our way here you've been un-attentive... do you have no composure at all?" she scolded.

"B-but... my Familiar is..."

"Honestly, all those military drills around the academy is... unusual to say the least... so I can't simply just leave you there now huh?" she scoffed then looked at me "Now then, when we get home we will start training you to become a bride!"

"Right rig- WAIT WHAT!?"

"YOU HEARD ME LOUISE! CHIBI-LOUISE!" she grabbed my cheek again and pulled me close, glaring at me the whole time...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"Hey is something wrong Siesta?" I asked "You've seemed kinda down as of late." I just had to break the awkward tension that was there... probably not the best way to do so if you think about it.

"Well..." Siesta sighed "I have realized your true feelings..."

"Huh?"

"You and Miss Valliére... so... I have given up..."

"Me!? And... Louise!? Are you high?" I replied, getting a raised eyebrow from Siesta.

Then the carriage bumped un-expectantly at an awkward angle and we both lost our balance... and ended falling onto each other... after recovering... I didn't like the strange smell of lead and gunpowder that was building up...

"Oh shi-"

*KA-PEW!*

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We eventually made it to Louise's house at dark... though maybe _house _was an understatement... _mansion_ would be more like it. A few servants came out and took away Louise and Eleanor's stuff, while me and Siesta had to carry our own stuff out from our carriage... or... what was left of it anyways... courtesy of Louise... after arranging all our stuff and Siesta fixing her little maid's cap thingy we all entered the mansion, with Eleanor taking the lead with Louise right behind her... me and Siesta stood a bit of a ways back...

Once we passed through the front door and my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness I noticed a line of butlers and maids all lined up on opposite sides of the room, there must have been at least thirty in total... why a family of only five needed this many servants (Why they needed any servants) was beyond me... either they were lazy... or they had a giant house... and I'm gonna go with they we're lazy just cuz it got on my nerves... seriously... they can't just get a smaller house! Who the fuck needs this much room in the center room anyways!? You could at least 20 or more Scorpion main battle tanks side by side from top to bottom... hell you could easily fit a few Pelicans in here!

But enough monologing...

All the servants in the entry hall chanted "Welcome home Lady Eleanor, Mistress Louise."

I glanced at Siesta who was beside me in a _Really? Just... Really _sorta fashion... this... welcome home greeting... it was a little overkill if you ask me. I mean who the fuck needs thirty plus servants welcoming them home! Hell, I when I was 6, just starting school I'd be lucky if my father even welcomed me home... (Something I wish he did more of since... you know... the whole, Spartan thing...)

I then noticed another girl standing at the head of the room, pink haired and eyed with relatively fair skin, she had long locks of hair over both her shoulders wrapped in some sort of golden trappings while the rest of her hair flowed down her back. Also, but this point, unless I actually say they are flat-chested, just assume they have a big bust ok? Because at this point, I find it needless to say that almost every girl I've encountered in this world has a huge rack! (Minus Eleanor, Louise and Tabitha while Anies was also not huge, but she wasn't flat either mind you)

"Ah Louise, welcome home my little Louise." Said the girl, whom I guessed was Louise's other sister, herm middle sister I assumed.

"Chi-chi!" Exclaimed Louise and ran up to – and hugged her sister.

* * *

**(A/N: I'm replacing Chi-neesama with Chi-chi/just Chi since I don't want to directly refer to the characters in Japanese which would break the **_**they speak French and technically only French **_**thing... something alot of people tend to forget, *incoming rant, sorry, this has just been bugging me for a while* since I've noticed many people who write FOZ/ZNT fanfics use terms like Hime-Sama, Neesama, San, Kun, Chan, etc, etc... when they are supposed to be speaking French, not Japanese, I know that it says that in the Anime even in the subbed version but when they do that, it kinda breaks the image of a French like language. Just saying that I find it confusing to combine three languages all at once, French, English and Japanese... however I guess simply saying that me or others writing this thing in English is to the contrary of what I'm saying, in which case I could be called a hypocrite... but by that logic you could get made at the creator for writing the story in Japanese despite it's supposed French dialect... aaaanny ways, enough ranting, back to the story, this is not a forum, it's a story... geez...)**

* * *

'Damn, she's fine...' I thought, looking at her chest, then shook my head. 'no, don't think about that... your better then that'

"Chi, how is your health?" Louise asked, to which I raised an eyebrow, nothing looked wrong with her to me, though I suppose you can't judge a book by its cover, pardon the cliché...

"thank you for your concern Louise, but it's fine, the same as usual so don't worry about it, ok?" replied Chi as Louise had called her, until I hear Eleanor refer to her by name.

"Cattleya, where is mother?" Eleanor asked.

Moments later I stood disgruntled at the fact that I had to stand a few meters behind Louise as she and her two sisters and mother ate at a ridiculously long table that looked like it would make reaching the salt a little more than a challenge... my stomach growled...

'Oh if only Marteau were here...' I thought 'I could activate Active-Camo... no one would notice if I left right now I'm sure...' I wondered if I put my helmet on people would notice, then about if I turned on Active-Camo right now if my head would vanish, or if I'd have to deal with the floating head problem... which was bound to attract more attention rather than the opposite...

"Damnit, I'm hungry..." I mumbled, I had run out of E-bars a week ago now so I was relying on either Louise's authority, the UNSC base, or secret trips to the kitchen for food these days... unfortunately none of these options were available at the moment, so I thought about just sneaking away and finding something to take my mind off the nagging hunger pains...

'Man up Spartan, you've gone longer than a day without food' I thought 'yeah, but I haven't done that for nearly 5 years now...' retorted the other side of my brain... god how hated internal conflict... made me sound mentally unstable...

There was an awkward long silence where all that could be heard was the clattering and light pings of eating utensils against plates until... "M-mother..." started Louise

"Mother!" said Eleanor, cutting Louise off "Please, clearly tell Louise is quietly stay home! She's a failure at the magic academy after all..." she turned to look at Louise who slammed her fists on the table and stood up.

"N-no! I'm not like I used to be!" she retorted "I'm being useful to the Princess! She says that my power is necessary." Oh how I wish she'd kept her mouth shut and her pride locked up... but being a noble... I guess this was inevitable...

"Ha!" laughed Eleanor "Your Power? What power? What can a zero like you do?!" Ohhhhh... she did not, just play the Zero card...

"T-that is... I... I..." We both knew that it was best for the time to keep Louise's abilities as a Void Mage a secret, hence no one, not even her family was able to know until due time, which was not now.

"Mother, we should really get on with making Louise into a bride." Said Eleanor who turned to their mother, who, like most of the Valliére girls, had pink flowing hair... "How about the second son of Baron Albert?"

A realization struck me 'Wait!? A Bride... don't tell me this is another one of those forced marriage things again! I _hate _dealing with those kinds of situations...' I thought.

"Oh, c'mon! Why do I have to get married first!? You're the oldest!" Louise pointed at Eleanor "You should be getting married first!" her logic made sense I figured, however her sister seemed to have a short temper... as proven by the following... "What happened to your engagement with the Count of Burgundy?!"

"L-Louise! That's been kind of a touchy subject of la- oh no..." started Cattleya

Eleanor was metaphorically on fire, her face red with rage "Chibi-Louise! For you to speak to me in that manner, you have apparently grown more arrogant!"

"Uh..." Louise flinched

Eleanor stood up, her chair knocked backwards "The engagement has been cancelled you hear! Canceled ok!? You have a problem with that!?" She lunged forward "HUH!? Do you!?"

*Bang*

And as per my usual entrance and/or warning a strand of hair fell from Eleanor's head. All eyes were on me, oh how I relished these moments when I was the center of intimidation... "No one. Handles. My master. Like that..." I said in the most deadly tone I could muster, filled with killer intent.

"H-H-How DARE YOU!" Screamed Eleanor.

"Madam" I addressed their mother "Please control your eldest daughter before she does something everyone but myself regrets..."

"Mother!" Screamed Eleanor "Don't tell me your going to listen to this- this... peasant!" she reached for her wand and everyone could hear the metallic click of my magnum.

"You so much as raise that wand and I'll snap your neck faster than you can say abracadabra!" I said

"Sit down Eleanor." Said their mother "Louise too, we are supposed to be having dinner, I can respect the wishes of a protective familiar, at least he is doing his job well..."

"But Mother!"

"I will not have violence in this household; we can discuss this matter about Louise's future once your Father returns home tomorrow."

Everything quieted down and I noticed Louise struggling with her self-pity, mind you she had my pity for what is was worth... (Not much at the moment)

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I didn't want to be anywhere near any of the Valliére sisters after the events of Dinner so I managed to find a small snack, courtesy of one of the servants who was impressed my display at dinner, and then found a small room which hadn't seemed to really be furnished at all, or even visited that often, and crashed in the corner. The thing I was laying on, must have been the medieval version of a beanbag chair or something, cuz that's what it felt like really... quite comfy actually... there was only a single window and one chair and one wardrobe in the room though when I checked it, the wardrobe was empty.

"I can't believe Louise is getting forced to marry... again!" I muttered to myself. "As if the situation with Wardes wasn't hard enough on her, now she's being forced to marry again against her will... geez..." I sighed and put my arms behind my head "I'll never understand this society..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Siesta's POV**

I sat on one of the beds in one of the many lower class guest rooms; it was supposed to be mine and Alexander, however he wasn't here at the moment...

I wore only my bland yellow night garments; much more simple than anything the Valliére's would wear. 'If Alexander really likes Miss Valliére... then... I thought giving up and backing off would help ease my mind... but...' I thought and looked up at the mirror on the wall 'it doesn't seem like they have progressed... and if what he said about not liking Miss Valliére in that way is true...' I stood up and walked over to the mirror...

'I mean... even I'm an equivalent as a woman!' I thought determinately and I ended up glancing down at my breasts... I smirked and jumped around with renewed hope 'On second thought, I'm better as a woman, I've got three things that Miss Valliére doesn't!'

I could easily list off those three things, one was obvious, two was my charm and care for him was much greater than Miss Valliére's... and lastly... well... I don't think I have to bring up the events of about a few weeks ago!

And even if I didn't win in the end, it's not like I couldn't have a bit of fun at Miss Valliére's expense!

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I was in Chi-chi's room, all her pets were laying around the foot of her bed, she had a strange affinity with animals that I never understood. I sat in a chair in front of a large mirror while Chi-chi brushed my hair.

"Why does Eleanor bully me so much!?" I asked "It's always been like this, even in the past!"

"You are pretty, and that worries her..." replied Chi "She also loves you so she is really trying to look out for you."

I thought about some of the terms Alexander used and I would normally never use such terms but I deemed it necessary this one time. "Right, I'll get back to you when I buy into that load of bullshit..." I said, with Chi-chi looking at me confused since we didn't have curse words like that here... however in Alexander's world that was supposed to be one of the really bad ones, but not the worst... "Cow-dung" I explained.

"Louise, why do you use such rude terms" said Chi

"I'm explaining what bullshit means, it's a worse and more vulgar word for cow-dung" I replied

"Well a Valliére does not refer to any kind of dung when speaking about another."

"Riiiiight..."

"However back to the subject, that is because I also really love you, hence I know all about you such as I know you have reached the age where you are starting to fall in love."

I could feel my face turning red. "I haven't fallen in love!" I replied

"I never said you did, but based on your reaction you can't hide it, I know you have..."

"No, really, I haven't fallen in love!" I exclaimed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I shuffled around in my sister's bed, unable to sleep...

"What's wrong, can't sleep?" my Chi-chi asked.

"Mhm" I mumbled in reply

There was a short pause "Are you thinking about someone? I wonder if it's that boy you brought with you earlier."

"Huh? Y-your wrong, he is just my familiar, I don't love him..."

"Again, I never said anything about love..." Chi remarked mischievously.

I buried my head under to covers "I hate you Chi-chi" I whined.

"Oh no" sarcastically replied Chi "I've made someone hate me..." and the covers over my face were pulled down and Chi was looking down at me. "You should go, to the place you belong..."

"F-fine..." I said and got up, grabbing a loose blanket and draping it over my head and down my back, wrapping myself in it. as I walked down the hall back to my room I contemplated what I would say to him once I'd gotten back.

'It's not that I wanted to see you...' I thought as though I were talking to him 'I'm a mage, a Noble... for you to always serve me is only natural! I'm only seeing you because as a familiar if you don't see your master, then as a familiar, you will be lonely' I paused right outside my room... "Oh who am I kidding" I muttered...

He hates me, I know this already... if I said that to his face, he'd laugh right back in it saying my absence was a god-send! If only I'd summoned a more obedient familiar instead of this... revolting, defiant, muscular, protective, loyal... I realized what I was coming to... he wasn't all bad, but... I also realized that he wasn't doing what I told him due to loyalty or affection... but if that was the case, why did he put up with me. He seems to have no sense in honor, so I find it disturbing to think that he's just as likely to stab me in the back as do my laundry... why hadn't he run off yet, there was nothing physically binding him to me...

At this point my mind was in shambles, one part was saying 'he loves me, he loves me' while the other said 'no, he hates your guts, he hates your guts!' while the middle was still indecisive. In the end I suppose I thought there was only one way to find out for sure... hopefully he was in my room...

I opened the door and entered the room, letting my eyes adjust to the light level, then I noticed a bulge where he would have been sleeping on the floor... odd, he usually preferred to sleep with his back propped up against the wall or on top of whatever coverings were provided, instead preferring to use his armor to keep his temperature regulated.

Well... there was only one way to find out for sure if he hated me, or loved me... I crawled under the covers and lay there next to him. After a while he reached over and un-expectantly kissed me on the lips... I was surprised, I guess he did love me, his lips were oddly soft for someone so... for lack of a better word, serious and tough. A few moments later I wanted to put my hand against his chest, which I proceeded to do only to find soft mounds of flesh protruding from... his... chest... then I opened my eyes and there was a slight delay in my reaction... providing enough time for the word: "Alexander" to escape Siesta's mouth... then she opened her eyes... there was a three second delay before.

"What the fuck!?" we both exclaimed using the common word he used to express his distain and distress... and instantly sat bolt upright.

"W-w-why are you here!?" I squeaked

"M-miss Valliére!" stuttered Siesta

"And an even better question is why are you in my familiar, Alexander's bed!?"

"Uh... uh..." Siesta sweat dropped "Th-that's because... well... Alex h-he... he called me, that's why."

"W-what!?"

"Y-yes... Alexander said: 'Please come to my room tonight'. Alexander called me so I came!"

I probably went white as a ghost, simply due to the fact that, A: I couldn't believe that I'd kissed a girl... B: Due to the fact that knowing this, I was pretty sure that he didn't like me, and C: It was now my obligation to _kill _and _eat_ Alexander for breakfast in the morning...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

I walked down the halls of the Valliére Manor, this place was huge! Sure it still had nothing on the skyscrapers of Reach and Earth, nor even some of the UNSC ships we had, but still, with no map to follow it was... difficult to get around...

Until however, I finally found what I thought was the personal quarters wing, I started down the hall and was about to turn a corner when someone coughed behind me... I turned around.

"So, now that I don't have my mother interfering with me, why don't you go ahead and apologize for acting to me in such a manner, peasant!" said Eleanor with an evil smirk.

There was an awkward silence, and I put on my best _oooohhh, I'm so scared face_ which probably wasn't that good, but she seemed to buy it... then... my face changed to a more, cruel humored one... "HAHAHAAHA, HAHA, HAHA, HAAAHAAAAAA..." I laughed manically "Whhoooooo..." I wiped a tear from my eye "You know what, since you're so rash and up in your own little world, I think I'll let this one slide, 'aight? You know, let you walk away without any broken limbs?" she looked like she was about to retort in a way that would have set me off... then my face turned dead serious "No seriously, I suggest not pissing me off, I have a tendency to kill people who piss me off... Louise being the one exception... oddly enough..."

"Look here, you insulted me in front of my family and you fired a gun at me, I demand that you apologize this instant or else!"

"Are all you Valliére's so stubborn!?" I exclaimed, probably not getting me anywhere good... "I go ahead and give you good warning, but nooooo, you just gotta go and make your day worse don't 'cha!?" I sighed and put my hand to my forehead "My patience is wearing thin, if you follow me I will seriously, fuck your shit up..."

I started heading to the left, opposite of Eleanor... I heard footsteps behind me, they got faster and as soon as I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder I turned around and looked at her straight in the eye... "I warned you..." I said and grabbed the back of her head and slammed it into the nearest corner pillar, breaking her nose... also knocking her out cold... I started dragging her body towards the nearest room when a servant came around a corner and looked at me wide eyed... I was quick to respond accordingly.

"I think Miss Eleanor tripped and broke her nose on the floor, can you get her some medical attention?" I said

"Y-yes... right away..." said the servant and took Eleanor's body from me and helped her towards wherever they took care of their injuries and stuff...

I thought about what I just did... ohhhhh... how I'd been longing to do that... hopefully the concussion I forcefully induced would have the advantageous side effect (Or at least for me) of being slightly amnesiac... and she wouldn't remember the fact that I'd done that to her, if she did... well... I'd have to make a hasty exit in the morning or even earlier...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Cattleya's POV**

We all sat around a small white round table on the balcony of our manor, drinking tea and eating these little biscuit things... (The name of which escapes me)... I glance over at Louise who seemed highly disappointed, maybe even distressed... I wondered what had gotten my little sister so upset...

"So, Louise has returned" said a highly masculine voice and well all looked towards the balcony door...

"Ah, Father!" said Eleanor, who for some unexplained reason had a bandage across her nose and forehead...

"Yes yes, here I am..." replied Father, his expression one that clearly showed his annoyance... my mother however understood his situation immediately.

"Don't tell me the military conference dragged on longer than usual again?" she said

"Yes, that it did... and to top it off, I have to head back again real soon, so I'll be leaving again shortly..." he sighed "The world is a tough place these days, sure we're at war but dispatching troops will only seem to agitate the people... the Queen has been having... problems..."

"Father!" exclaimed Louis, standing up "About Lady Henrietta stirring up the war-"

My father's expression turned from annoyance to disgust "What do you know of it!?" he barked "Listen good now Louise, you need to stop forcing yourself to learn magic! Just stay home, and become a bride... I will not discuss this matter anymore! My decision is final!" and he turned around and left.

"B-but Father!" cried Louise

Eleanor stood up with her hands on her hips "Well now that it's official, let's hurry up and start Louise's marriage proposals. I mean that _is _the best way to calm the girl down..."

"Ok, why are you so determined to see Louise married, I still haven't quite understood that." I said, but the question was brushed off...

"Wait! But Eleanor should be getting married first! Ah!" Louise yelped as Eleanor grabbed her by the cheek.

"Like I said, the engagement was cancelled!" Eleanor hissed

"I'm sorry" whined Louise "But I don't want to get married..."

"Mother, Eleanor" I said "To suddenly force Louise into a marriage will only trouble her, and lately I've been noticing she's been increasingly depressed, shoving this marriage upon her will only make matters worse..."

"The decision has been made Cattleya... your father has already said so." Said Mother "But we can at least hear if there is anyone Louise might prefer to marry, if that will ease the burden..." Mother turned to Louise "Louise, do you have a lover?"

Louise suddenly went red "N-no, I don't have one!"

"By Brimir Louise, you are horrible at lying..." I said

"There does seem to be someone you like..." noted mother

Louise sweat dropped "No, there isn't!" she panicked...

"Who is it? Which noble family?" questioned Mother

Then Eleanor got in on the action "A count? A Baron...?" she paused "It can't be a Semi-Baron of lower class, can it!?"

Louise twitched sharply, giving off the indication that she was right... "This girl..." she sighed "It's true isn't it!? She's fallen in love with a person of low social status!"

Mother sighed and put a hand to her forehead in disappointment "This girl always makes me worry so..." she said

"I didn't fall in love! I didn't!" screamed Louise who ran off.

"Louise!" I called after her, but I knew where she'd go... I also knew that there was one likely person that wouldn't want to see Louise married and who also, was likely the person she held dear...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I made my way upstairs to the room which were rarely used and listened around for a bit before finding my way to a room with mutterings coming from it... I knocked on the door.

"It's open!" called a voice, but I knocked again, not knowing if that meant come in or not. Then the door opened and Alexander, the boy that Louise had brought with her was there in some strange armor, a helmet under his arm.

"Would you mind if I come in?" I asked

"No-no, not at all." He stood aside politely. He may have been of low social status, but he was almost as much a gentleman as any noble I knew. However given my impression was only based on about an hour of semi-contact with him, it probably didn't hold much weight as an opinion...

He had a protective mind, as was proven during dinner last night, which was good for Louise, bad for anyone who crossed either of them. I went and sat down on his makeshift bed which was surprisingly soft. The boy came and sat next to me, with his helmet on his lap. His mind seemed to be wandering in admiration.

"Louise will become even more charming than me when she gets older." Then his attitude swung.

"Riiiiiight..." he sighed "Hey, tell me, how can one so kind and gentle be related to ones so violent and harsh?"

"W-what?"

"Oh nothing, just a thought I had the need to voice for a while now..."

"Oh... well... you are aware that, at this rate, Louise will become a bride right? you don't want Louise to get married right?"

"Well" he started "on the contrary, I want her to get married" this confused me a little bit "I mean, I don't feel _that _way about her, sure I love her, but more like a little annoying sister you see? Which is something she doesn't seem to be able to wrap her head around... she's rather stubborn that way..."

"Well, either way, I know you don't want to see her married forcibly, it should be to one she loves right?"

"True... I don't want to see her upset... I guess I've got a loyalty complex..." he mused

"She will be in the courtyard, can you go to her?" I asked "That girl, whenever something bad would happen, she'd hide herself in the little boat in the courtyard... then once you've gotten her, leave the manor. There will be a carriage waiting for you."

He nodded

I then leaned towards him and put a hand on either side of his face. "I wish good fortune to both you and my sister." I kissed him on the forehead "I will leave my cute sister in your hands. Sir Knight."

He seemed a bit shocked by my reference but also a bit flattered, he nodded again and got up and left for the courtyard.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"I haven't fallen in love" I muttered while hiding under the tarp of the small boat in the courtyard. "After all, Alexander thinks more about that maid than me..." I found myself crying a little bit, right before the tarp was torn off and I looked up at who had done it. Alexander stood there, helmetless, looking down at me with a playful smirk on his face.

"C'mon Louise, we're going back to the academy." He said "Your middle sister has prepared a carriage for us." He explained

I scoffed, remembering the events of last night "It doesn't matter, I don't care about you anymore!" I looked back at him, who looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. "I can't tell my family about Void Magic... no matter how hard I try, no one will acknowledge my abilities..."

"Aie-aie-aie..." sighed Alexander who lightly stepped into the boat and sat in front of me. He grabbed my right hand "Then I will acknowledge you... I mean, you brought me into this world with that magic of yours; you must have done something right? So grow up, learn to stand up for yourself, because once I'm gone, when I'm gone, there's not going to be anyone else left to fight your battles for you."

I looked at him in awe, what did he mean _when he's gone?_

He noticed my look and explained "To be honest, despite my combat skill and abilities to overpower almost anyone I come across here... I doubt I'll be able to live out my days till I'm old... something, sooner or later, _will _get the better of me and I'll be killed in action sooner or later... when that day comes, like I said, it will be you and only you. I care about you, so don't let yourself succumb to a fate where you can't even vouch for yourself without being shot down faster than you can get up..."

"Stop lying" I said "Considering you called that maid, how can I believe anything you say?"

"Wait what?" he asked

"You like her more right?" I asked

"Yes..." he said

"WHAT!?"

"I like her in the sense that, yes, I'm more attracted to her... but do I _like _her more... is another story..."

"You just said tha-"

"Stop being so stupid and pig headed!" he yelled

"Who are you calling pig headed and stupid!?" I retorted.

"Who had to deal with your sister's temper, who saved you from Wardes, who fought for you when others teased you, who goes on stupid missions for a Queen I, officially, hold no loyalty to... who has to be the familiar of a flat-chested, annoying, brat brained, stuck up, little girl!?"

"Y-you just said it!"

"Well I've got more where that came from! I'm tired of dealing with this little phoney-war, the side missions, you becoming a bride against your will for what!? The second and most likely not the last time!?"

"Well then why don't you just leave and go home!?" I yelled

"Because I CAN'T!" he exclaimed "I'm a soldier, I have a loyalty complex, to be honest I've grown an attachment to you like one would to a little sister, I'm protective of you, sure we fight and want to strangle each other, but in the end I'm loyal to you. I'll protect you with my life if need be... like right now I guess... well... if your father found out about all this... but... anyways... I do love you Louise, but not like that! Not right now! Highly doubt I ever will but hey, I'm no Prophet."

There was a long silence for a while... I looked back right into his eyes... "If you are lying... then I will kill you..." and as expected, he replied with a smart as remark.

"Right, I'd like to see you try..." he said with his playful smirk returning... and I couldn't help but play along... "C'mon, let's get outta here!" and he pressed a small blue triangular object with a cyan orb in the center of it into my hand and pressed a button on the side of it and the object vanished and my vision blurred blue for a moment. I raised my hand to find it nearly invisible... the only thing that would hint that it was there was a reflective glimmer... "One of the early versions of Active-Camo, you don't need a suit to use it, but it wears off quicker and the devices are in short supply nowadays since it's no longer manufactured... Now hurry up, we're burning daylight!" Said Alexander and turned invisible himself, but only enough so that I could slightly see his outline...

I smiled "Right behind you!" I said and jumped out of the boat and followed him..

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**A bit of a different ending... but I' really tired and this chapter was one of the more painful to write simply due to the fact that it had boring material for me to work with in the first place...**

**Anyways you know how it goes now...**

**Since I went through the excruciatingly painful process of writing **_**this **_**chapter in particular (So boring and it took me nearly four days to write...) why not leave a review telling me what you did or didn't like. And if you really did like it then why not add the story to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates. (Which might slow down now since I'm losing inspiration). All of the above help me a great deal when it comes to staying motivated to write this story. Thanks guys! Your all awesome!**

**WTYL :D**

**-Rogue**

**I'm actually wondering if I can reasonably milk this chapter in order to get to 7,000 words on Microsoft Office Word... I'm so close... but I wanted the 7,000 so I can feel like this chapter is longer than most... but oh look, it is now!**

**WTYL for real now... ;D**

**K thx bai!**


	18. The Silent Cartographer

**Alrighty, I've thought of a way to warp the plot a bit but still keep the ultimate outcome relitivaly the same... you ready for this? Are you serious right now? You gotz to b srs face with me, r u srs face, I don't c ur srs face!**

***cough cough***

**Apologies for my shorthand...**

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I stood just outside the UNSC Firebase HQ, awaiting a report from Sgt. Dempsey of Fireteam Delta; the ODST Fireteam to be exact. In the distance I could hear the girls practicing their matial combat, from the sound of it one of Anies subordinates was leading the training today... I wondered where she would have been... I then felt a tap on my shoulder...

I turned around "Anies?" I said "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training the girls?"

"I was" she replied "But..." she hesitated "I've come for training myself..."

"You... come for training?" I asked, utterly confused "Your one of the best, why do you need training?"

Anies chuckled humorlessly "Me? The best?" she said solemnly, this was unlike her... "That means a lot coming from you..."

"And what, pray tell, does that mean?"

"I want to become like you... can you teach me to be a Spartan?"

I was shocked, me, a teacher, handling rookie marines was one thing, but this... this was a different matter entirely. I shook my head "No Anies, I'm afraid I can't teach you to be a Spartan..." she looked a bit depressed at that statement "Don't get me wrong, with adequate training and effort I think you'd make a fine Spartan, but that's just something we don't have right now, not to mention that in truth, there is allot more to it than just training..." I sighed "To become a Spartan... your body needs to... change..."

"Change?" she asked

"My strength, my speed, my endurance... it didn't all come from training alone... sure I endured nearly a decade of the hardest training of my life which helped allot but there was more to it than that... we needed to undergo... augmentations... change our bodies, our genetic structure to some extent... Spartan III's have been the least changed so far and we've had the lowest mortality rates during training."

"Mortality!?" she exclaimed

"Yeah, what was it... 30% of the Spartan III recruits die before actually setting foot on the field... the numbers were worse with the Spartan IIs... I think for them it was 60 out of 100 died before ever seeing real battle."

"What a waste..."

"Hah..." I smirked an acknowledging smirk "Veeeery few people saw it that way... but to answer your ultimate question, no, I can't train you to be a Spartan, but I can train you to be an ODST, with enough time..."

"Ok, if I was to take you up on this, where would we start?"

I didn't know how she was going to like this, but in order to make a real-working ODST, she'd have to start from scratch... "Well, if you really want to be a more capable fighter, you need to be willing to run by my playbook... think you can handle that?"

"What would it entail?"

"Technically, I can't strip your rank from you, but all fresh faced ODSTs, no matter the rank they had in previous military organizations, had their rank busted right back to private..."

"W-what!? No way I'm giving up my rank!"

"I didn't say you had to, you can still keep command of your gun squad, but in my eyes and the eyes of all UNSC personnel, you'd be seen as a mere recruit, a private, a rookie... you'd be treated like one too. And to top it off, I'm not going to go easy on you just because we are friends. All ODSTs need to go through this. If you accept the training, I'll start off as easy as I can, simply for qualification, and pre-training evaluation, then the real challenges will begin..."

Anies was silent for a while... before nodding at me "I accept..."

I nodded back at her, "Then follow me, I want to evaluate your combat skills so I can know where to start with you." I lead her to the firing range. Sgt. Stacker was training the new marines who were already showing signs of improvement.

I walked up to the weapons racks along the back of the range and picked out an M395 Designated Marksman Rifle, this was the newer version of the DMR, which I personally hated... hence I still stuck with my M392 Designated Marksman Rifle simply because it had a better feel to it... had more ammo, higher accuracy, higher rate of fire, generally better I'm my opinion... also I'm a sap for the sentimental value on this thing... it still had all my tally marks... same with my magnum and sniper...

"Ok, take a few shots down range, get a feel for the rifle..." I ordered before watching her raise the rifle with a bit of struggling...

"This thing is awkward..." she said "I don't understand how you can fight with these..."

"First off your not holding it right..." I said. She was holding the rifle butt to her cheek and holding the rifle like a pistol, her hands were shaking from the balance of the gun. I stepped behind her and re-adjusted her arms so that the butt was locked in the socket of her shoulder, her cheek rested against the center of the gun so she could look down the sights easily and moved her right hand to hold the under barrel of the gun. When I stepped back I had noticed her usually hardened expression had softened, when I looked at her to see if something was wrong her eyes faltered and I noticed she was blushing...

I mentally chuckled 'battle field romance huh?' I thought 'the only type I know...' I'd had a few friends who had a similar relationship with others... they didn't usually end well... one of them eventually died... usually ended like that... 66.6666666_% of the time...

"Focus on the enemy" I said "Ignore me for now, pay attention cuz I'm only going to say this once..." I walked over to a panel next to the entrance door to the range and hit a button for the third slot on the range and three targets of simply white and blacked targets of cardboard cut-outs of humans popped up, each target with a 25 meter spread from closest to farthest... the last target ranged at a hundred meters. (The range was underground, remember, we had lots of space to dig). However this was a fairly easy range, the DMR's ideal range set was between 300-800 meters, a hundred meters for the DMR would be considered close range, not quite CQB, but still close when compared to its ideal range. That being said, that was the official statement that came with the training to become a Designated Marksman, anyone untrained would be more than content using the DMR at a range between 5-100 meters depending on the size of the target.

Her first target she was able to take down with a clean headshot, next one with a shot to the gut, and finally after two missed shots, she hit the last one in the shoulder.

"Considering this is your first attempt, you did pretty well..." I said "I guess having priot combat experience comes in handy no matter what weapon it is your holding..." I smirked "at least you know how to operate a trigger..."

I then instructed her on how to reload, maintain and clean a gun... I then assigned the same DMR she'd used for training as her primary weapon. I also gave her a M6H Magnum **(A/N: Halo 4 Variant, same with the DMR) **as a side arm.

"By Brimir, this gun weighs a ton for such a small weapon!" she commented to which I chuckled.

"There's a debate going around arguing whether the M6 series is the world's largest pistol, or the world's smallest rifle... I'm still undecided honestly..."

I already knew of her physical capabilities, but that didn't mean I couldn't test her... I lead her through the base until we came to a sparing chamber in the work out rooms... I changed from my armor into my fatigues. I lead her in, which I might add, had her looking around like a cornered puppy...

"Wait... why are we here?" she asked and froze as I cracked my knuckles.

"Come at me..." I said bluntly

"What!? You'll kill me!" she exclaimed

"I'm not going to fight back, I just want to test out your arm... every ODST needs to know how to fight both at range and in melee combat whether it be with a weapon or unarmed... now take a swing at me!" I barked

"HYA!" she aimed a punch at my chest which I dodged easily, her moves were un-fluid and unpolished, she was no brawler that was for sure.

"Ok, being serious now, hit me!"

She looked at me quizzically but decided she'd be a good girl and do as she was told... taking another swing, and again, missing...

"You're too slow..." I said which miffed her and she tried to attack me again. "And predictable" I added as I blocked her punch. "You are too easily set off Anies, you need to learn to control your emotions lest they get the better of you... it's all too easy to do stupid things when you're in a bad mood... or good mood for that matter. Don't let anger and sadness alter your actions, while at the same time, don't get cocky.

She took a few more swings at me until she finally got a feel for my style, then we were able to exchange blows... or... more like she was simply able to land a few, all of which I blocked and vise versa... I wasn't going full on Spartan mode or else I'd wreck the poor girl.

Long after we'd both broken into a sweat, I said that it was enough for now. I would start her actual training tomorrow... in fact, I'd had a special game in store for her and the new recruits...

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Know what a TTR round is? No? Well... ever played paintball? Know what paintball is? Well I hope so, because that's what a TTR round is... only worse...

The new marines were fitted with full body EVA marine suits, complete with a full helmet and visor, while Anies was fitted with the signature ODST black armor and silver visor. She was lucky; normally it took months if not years before you earned your black armor. But today was special...

You see, TTR is not just a military's version of paintball... no... The TTR challenges are to simulate actual combat scenarios and situations. TTR rounds have a special blend to it, a chemical that reacts with the suit and causes it to lock down and imitate paralysation, to simulate being shot in a limb, or in the case of your head, the whole suit locked down. It also stung like a beeatch! Trust me on that one, I know...

Now, here's how the average TTR course went, we'd drop the ODSTs on some backwater mountain, and force them on a three day hike to the top, with no food, no water and little ammo. On the way we'd have instructors armed with TTR weapons of their own to hunt down the ODSTs... however, these weren't all ODST trainees, so, we went easier on them... a two day hike with one night's worth of food. Each man/woman carried with them; their primary weapon, sidearm's, knife(s), their own meals, water and a share of the survival equipment equaling about 35 kilograms give or take and each one also had a signal flare and their own ammo supply of TTR rounds. Just to make it fair, we explained the TTR rounds were made to paralyze any wild life they encountered, (It wouldn't, but it would scare them off, even if it was a bear), however, they didn't know we'd be watching them, then engaging them over the course of the next two days... I mean c'mon, please, if you 'aint got a fight then where is the challenge? Hmmm?

After we dropped them off at the bottom of the mountain selected for the course via Pelican I give them their orders, we then flew off and landed nearby, but out of sight. All instructors were ODSTs excluding myself. We all had TTR Snipers, magnums and grenades that mimicked frags. I stepped out of the Pelican as it flew off and disappeared into the distance. "C'mon soldiers, we've got recruits to hunt down." I said and led the ODSTs through the trees.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Anies POV**

The Marine Recruits and I began up the mountain, it would at least be a two day hike to the top, where we would then await pickup... over the course of my initial training I'd picked up a few words used my Alexander's military. Our current goal was to make it at least a third of the way up the mountain by night fall, then rise and shine early in the morning to continue on. I had no doubt in my mind that we were being watched by our superiors so I wanted to make sure I was performing at my best.

"Hey I'll take Point" said a large man with an M739 SAAW LMG. He looked at me and I nodded at him "Commander calls me Hardcase" he said then pointed to the rest of the Fireteam. "Snips, Cutup, Dogma, Skinny, Echo, Breach, Fives, Beefstick and Tubs"

"Weird names..." I commented

"Well they're just nicknames but they seem to have grown on us... but anyways what about you?"

"Chevalier Captain Anies de Milan." I replied... now normally a peasant would have groveled and knelt before a noble like me (despite my inability to use magic) but instead he just shrugged.

"A noble huh? I thought the UNSC didn't want any of them in their ranks?" I looked at him with confusion "Then again what do I know, I've only been here a week or two..."

"For your information... Private... I happen to be in training as an ODST!" I shot

"ODST? You mean the elites guys in black armor?"

"Those are the same!"

"Damn..."

"HEY!" exclaimed the one girl called Snips "If you guys are done arguing, we have a mountain to climb!"

I sighed in momentary defeat and rolled my eyes before following behind Hardcase as we headed up the mountain. It was quiet, far too quiet... I glanced to my left and thought I saw movement but it seemed to be nothing... I knew for a fact now that we were being watched... when I voiced this to my comrades they all took it with a pinch of salt and didn't seem to care. 'Hmmf' I thought 'just wait till the real challenge starts, then you'll wish you'd listened to me.' I thought.

As we headed up the mountain it began to get snowy. The terrain got all slippery, wet and cold as every now and then one of us would slip in the snow and get up with their teeth chattering after getting their armor soaked through... despite the fact these were a form of EVA suits... I guess they were only for training purposes... but why they'd give us these cheap suits was beyond me... I guess I'd find out later...

*Pop*

Cutup's visor exploded into a splotch of bright red, covering his vision. He fell backwards into the snow softly with a light thud.

"Cover!" I shouted and we all found a tree or rock to hide behind. I could hear voices coming from across the nearby clearing... a clearing we had to pass in order to reach the top.

"Haha! Got one!" said a human voice I recognized as Alexander's, what were they doing here!? And why were they shooting us!

A marine next to me behind my rock, Echo, popped his head up to take a look around... I heard a faint splat and he fell backwards with a muffled "Damnit", his visor covered in crimson. Then I remembered the paint guns they had given us... the paint was meant to paralyze, so this was part of the challenge!

I readied my DMR and fired into the tree line, returning to cover just as a TTR round impacted the ground next to me. Another marine, Skinny, went down with a TTR round to his shoulder and leg.

"We can't take them at this range! Most of us only have close range weapons!" shouted Hardcase

"I have an idea!" replied Fives "Hardcase and Tubs use your Squad Assault Weapons to suppress them while the rest of the team moves up!"

"Rodger!" "Affirmative!" said Hardcase and Tubs

Both of them stepped out of cover, firing in the general direction of the shooters while the rest of Fireteam Charlie and myself ran up to the next line of cover which mainly comprised of low rocks we all had to hunker down behind while laying down suppressing fire of our own so Tubs and Hardcase could join us. Then we repeated the process until those of us with assault rifles could get a bead on the instructors and began to fire directly upon them. After a moment of shooting into the tree line we noticed the shots from within had stopped, the instructors must have fallen back...

"HA! we showed 'em!" said Snips

"They'll be back" I said, and this time everyone took me seriously... however before we carried on, Beefstick , Tubs and Hardcase slung the paralyzed bodies of Skinny, Echo and Cutup over their shoulders. The next few hours went on without any attacks... thankfully...

Eventually we found a tiny clearing, enough so that we could see the stars from underneath the tree canopy...

"So how much farther you think we gotta go?" asked Skinny, whose armor had unfrozen two hours after he was shot.

"Stop whining Skinny" said Cutup "At least we're unfrozen now"

Skinny scoffed "I liked it better when we were frozen, Beefstick just carried me along, I didn't have to do anything."

"Yeah, I'm sure you liked being man handled like that..." quirked Snips.

"Shut up!" said Beefstick, Cutup and Skinny.

I rolled my eyes, what childish behaviors... I assumed the rest of the next day would be spent climbing the mountain. Assuming we didn't run into any... complications...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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We woke up in the early morning, luckily with no interference from the instructors and quickly ate our MREs before continuing along the broken trail, metaphorically speaking. As we neared another clearing we took great care to make sure we weren't walking into another ambush... and instead skirted around the edges of the clearing. It cost us valuable time but thankfully there were no instructors to worry about. however after that clearing it seemed they had taken to a new strategy... every now and then we'd get shots taken at up, never above the chest however, like they were toying with us. They'd always shoot us in the leg or arm, numbing that part of our body for a couple hours. This made our travel time even slower. Whenever we moved we'd always stick close to trees and move up in short, quick bursts of speed to reach the next one... we moved in a spread out square formation, with everyone assigned a direction to watch. The nerve racking was insufferable and my patience was wearing thin... even with our cautiousness someone would get hit now and then. Only myself, Cutup, Fives and Snips didn't get hit on the way up... speaking of which when we finally got to the near top, there was a sheer faced rocky cliff we needed to climb up freehanded... it wasn't tall so a fall wouldn't kill, but you might sprain something if you landed funny. We approached the ridge and right as we exited the trees we saw two ODSTs pop out from over the cliffs.

"Spread out! Cover!" I shouted and we all made it to cover except for Skinny and Hardcase.

Snips and Cutup were next to me... "Shit" cursed Cutup "They have snipers, the longest ranged weapons we have are DMRs but with the zoom on these we won't have enough time to get a bead on them... we need snipers!"

Then an idea popped into my head "Cover your armor with mud and snow and lay down in the snow."

"Why?" Snips asked

"Well... we need snipers right?" I said "There are still instructors behind us... right? They have snipers..."

The other two nodded and lay down with their guns thrown aside... this would only work once... so I only hoped they fell for it... then, lucky us.. Three instructors emerged from the forest and looked over our _bodies. _Among them was Alexander in ODST armor... holding a sniper at his side... he looked over my body.

"Did we hit these? Wait a second..." he mused and I saw him reach for his magnum, but I already had my hand on mine and I shot him in the leg and arm while Snips and Cutup took down the other three ODST instructors. We relieved them of their sniper rifles... I heard Alexander mutter. "Damnit... fooled by the oldest trick in the book..."

We quickly took aim at the ODSTs on the ridge and took them out... "Let's go! We're clear!" shouted Cutup and we all emerged and made for the cliff save for Skinny, Hardcase and now also Beefstick and Tubs... we all made it to the top and we could see a Pelican coming to pick us up... as it landed the bay doors opened and four marines with light shock batons and jet packs came out and unlocked everyone's armor... there was an odd swiftness to how they went about it that worried me... then the one called Sgt. Stacker stepped out as another Pelican came out of the sky.

Alexander climbed up here along with the other ODSTs, he rubbed his shoulder. "Sgt. Stacker, why are you here?"

"Well, Commander... we've got a problem..."

"Oh? And since when is it ever smooth sailing?" he replied

"Its forerunner..."

"WHAT?!" Alex exclaimed "Whoa whoa whoa... back up there... what was that about Forerunner?" he asked

"While you were away, Tristain's ring of Water and Albion's ring of Wind were stolen... we caught the culprit... but she only had the Ring of Wind... the Ring of Water is still missing..."

"Who was it?" I asked

"Some purpled haired girl... part of the Gun Squad of knights apparently..."

"Michelle!?" I exclaimed "Why would she do that!?"

"I don't know... but she's dead now... she fought back and we had to put her down before she hurt the Valliére sisters... Old Osmond helped us track her down by telling us the rings were imitations, knowing they weren't... fooling her into using Miss Cattleya as a scapegoat... upon failing that she fled, being stopped by one of the sisters, she attempted to attack the source of the obstacle, who was also Cattleya... she shot her in the head before she could mutter a single incantation..." explained Stacker.

"I... I don't believe it... dead...?" I muttered... "And the rings?"

"We recovered the Ring of Air and/or Wind but the Ring of Water is still out there... Fireteam Bravo and Alpha followed a faint trail away from the academy and we came upon a Covie dig-site..."

"Covie dig-site!?" Alexander exclaimed

"There was only a small force of Brutes there along with the usual grunts and jackals... nothing we couldn't handle... the Hunters were a problem though... we lost four men I'm sad to say... all from Fireteam Alpha..." Stacker sighed "I came to pick you up and bring you there, we finished securing the area but we wanted all hands on deck in case the Covies decide to mount a counter-attack... also to safe guard Tristain's Queen."

"Henrietta is there!?" Both me and Alexander exclaimed.

"You mean the small purpled haired girl with the big bust? Yeah... she's there... once we returned the ring to her and reported on what had happened she insisted on being shown the dig site..."

We all got onto the Pelicans and they took off and closed the doors...

"We haven't foud anything interesting yet but since it's Forerunner it must have something locked away in there... weapons, ammo, information, ships-"

Alexander cut Stacker off "Keys to Doomsday Weapons..." he added...

Stacker was silent for a long time "Yeah... or keys to doomsday weapons..."

That sent chills down my spine... I didn't know what they meant by doomsday weapons... but it sure didn't sound good...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Henrietta's POV**

I wandered around the Forerunner ruins in the company of several of my Knights along with a entourage of UNSC marines... one of them was a complete nut head and tech freak by the looks of it... one of the marines had explained that he was the team's second technician.

The ruins... didn't look all that ruined... the structures were white with orange lights gleaming off them... we entered one of the buildings and the doors opened automatically as I approached them, then closed once everyone was through... we entered a long hallway full of weapon crates... none of the weapons looked like weapons I knew about... they were all either purple or green with flashy lights and buttons on them...

The door at the hallway entrance opened and I saw Alexander walk through with his helmet on... he walked up to me and for a moment I thought he was going to slap me again... I flinched as he raised his hand... only to remove his helmet.

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"I wanted to know about this strange civilization you called Forerunner... I've never heard of them..."

"Well, it's dangerous here... we don't know if it is safe here or not! You should leave..."

"But..." I trailed off...

"SIR!" shouted a marine from down the hall... we all ran towards the marine who had entered a room with a glowing blue light coming from it... we entered and all our jaws dropped... the room was filled with shining blue screens and buttons... white lights and orange switches, view screens and panels lined the walls with a center column and another door on the other side of the hexagonal room leading deeper into the facility... another squad of marines joined us and had a similar reaction...

"It's a cartographer..." said the man identified as Sergeant Stacker.

"A carto-what?" one of my knights asked.

"A Cartographer!" said Alexander "A map room... it will show us... well... your world and any other Forerunner facilities on it..."

A marine walked up to a panel on the wall and hit a button, causing a round ball to appear in the center of the room... it had continents and oceans on it... showing detailed deserts, forests, and even a floating island... it was Halkenginia...

"Hmmm..." mused a marine technician "Looks like there are additional facilities in Albion, Romalia and Gallia... the largest one is in Romalia... also it looks like Germania is lacking one... and... oddly enough each facility is placed only mere kilometers from the capital cities of each country..."

"Curious..." muttered Alexander "What if... naaah... that's too farfetched... on the other hand weirder things have happened..."

"What?" I asked "What are you thinking?"

"Well I was wondering if maybe the Forerunners are related to-" he was cut off by a loud sparking from a vent in the ceiling of the room... all the marines aimed their weapons at the vent while my knights stepped in front of me.

We all heard a faint burbling as a blue light began to shine from the vent...

"Oh hell no..." said Stacker "Not another one..."

Then a small round blue orb flew out of the vent "Oh- hello!" it burbled...

"FUUUUCK!" exclaimed Stacker.

"My name it 049-Tristain... how may I help you reclaimer?" it spoke to Alexander.

"Well, figures" muttered Stacker "The Spartans always seem to be identified as the Reclaimers..."

"Um..." Alexander stuttered "How about telling us about this facility for starters."

"Oh! This is a robotic testing facility, it was built here long ago by the Forerunners as you should already know, and reactivated a few thousand years ago by... odd... his name is missing from my databanks, but I'm sure of his arrival... well... that is it was active until the robots rebelled and took the facility over until now... now you've come to reclaim the facility and destroy the robots right?"

"Robots?" Alexander asked "You're kidding right?"

"SIR!" shouted a marine from outside the door which lead deeper into the facility... Alexander went over and so did I and my guards.

"Friend of yours?" he asked

Alexander looked down at the body of a large apelike alien. "Nope... but..." the body had orange bullet holes all over it and it's face was melted and burned... "Unless what 049 said was..."

We all heard a loud warped roar and looked down the hall way to see a strange creature materialize out of orange light... it roared again... and began to shoot at us with some sort of hardened, solidified, orange light beams.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" yelled Alexander and opened fire on the metal man... me and my guards ran out of the hall and back into the room, Alexander followed us while shooting at the metal man, as well as new contact; small metal dog like creatures which also and a faint orange aura around them... a few more blasts and I heard a metallic ping which meant he was now exposed to the enemy fire...

I heard an explosion and Alexander flew back through the door... which closed and locked after him... apparently the door was made of special metal and the metal men couldn't get through...

"Alex are you alright!?" I yelped and went to check on him... he was unconscious... which was probably for the best... I wanted to cry... I started using my water magic to stabilize him...

"Shit!" exclaimed a UNSC Medic who started to treat him. "His arm is gone!" and I sobbed. His arm was completely blown off and there was... just so much blood...

"I can fix his arm up... get him a new one... but... he needs a blood donor... he's lost way to much blood, if I don't fix this up soon and get a blood transfusion he'll die..."

"I will" I said... to which my guards looked at me in shock... "If I can..."

"Hold on..." The medic injected a strange foamy substance into Alexander's missing arm hole to stem the blood flow... before pulling out a strange pad which glowed purple and waved it over my arm...

"Ok, your blood type is compatible... are you sure about this?"

I nodded...

"OK then... until further notice we're locking down this facility... in order to properly secure it we are going to need extra fire power... we will loot the Covie weapons here and then burry the facility in a shallow grave... we can dig it back up once the UNSC get here... _if _they get here..."

The little blue ball floated down "I told you... the robots are rebellious Reclaimer... now look, you've lost an arm to them... the Prometheans can be quite dangerous you know?"

"The Prometheans?"

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**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was really fun making something from scratch, I think I'll do this more often, maybe every few chapters I will break from the cannon story to tell this little halo based extra story... (Maybe my ass, I **_**will**_** this was fun!) I loved this chapter simply due to its originality compared with the other chapters... however I will revert back to the (generally) cannon story for another few chapters then I will return with more Halo-Halkenginia-Promethean-Covie-Forerunner plot development...**

**Since I added much needed originality to this story with this chapter, why not leave me a review? Tell me what you did or didn't like. And if you really did like it, then why not add the story to your faves and follow it, that way you can keep in the know of future updates.**

**Thanks guys and girls! Your all awesome! Also, this is now my FIRST EVER STORY TO HIT... wait for it... OVER 100,000! Words... as Notch, the creator of minecraft would say... "Achievement Get!" to which, I agree, this is a milestone for me... and I have you guys to thank for it... however something is nagging at me that this story is going to go above 200,000 words... just a hunch... I mean... this story isn't even half over! :D**

**So anyways... Fave, Follow, Review... if you don't mind :D and as per usual...**

**WTYL peoplez! :D**

**-Rogue out!**


	19. To Kill A Traitor

**Sorry for not posting on time, but school work has been nagging at me more often than usual... since you know... the school year is almost out... but anyways that being said I will only post twice this week... today and Friday... (hopefully) sorry for any inconveniences.**

**This chapter generally follows the cannon plot, however I thought of a nice way to spice it up here and there, especially at the end. :P**

**Oh and for safety reasons...**

**-THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH HIGHLY MATURE SUBJECT MATTER, READER DISCRESION IS ADVISED-**

**(It's not sex per say, but it's borderline... so I just figured the warning would be a good idea...)**

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* * *

**Louise's POV**

I'd been pretty upset about my Familiar's near fatal injury, but thankfully for both our sakes, I heard that he was recovering, I wanted to check on him every now and then as he rested at the UNSC base in the medical-bay there... however today I was unable to see him since they were performing something called surgery, whatever that is... they said that they were fixing his arm up and restoring his blood to normal.

Unfortunately, something must have triggered something in my mind, because the night I was unable to see him, I had another dream... this one was... sad...

I was in the place of my familiar, in his body this time... it was weird. Sometimes I'd take on the form as a well defined and developed female Spartan, other times I'd take the form of my familiar...

Noble team and myself were hiding out in a small cave while a huge mechanical bug like giant walked past the outside of the cave, barely missing us... then Carter's AI, Auntie Dot, spoke up.

"It appears our enemy is more devious than we imagined... that spire was indeed a covenant teleporter, linked to a cloaked covenant super carrier." It said. "Thankfully, help is imminent as 60% of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive in, 48 hours."

"48 hours?!" exclaimed Jun "_That's _imminent!?" he then scoffed and idly brushed off some dirt and dust from Jorge's shoulder plate. "Hey, they're at it again..." said Jun and pointed to Kat and Carter. "Who's your money on this time?"

"Her" said Jorge, it was apparent that Kat and Carter were arguing about something.

"You always pick her..." sighed Jun

"That's because she's always got him dialed in"

Then the argument became more... audible...

"That thing out there is crushing us and we're waiting for backup!?" questioned Kat "They'll be backing up a graveyard!"

"All our nukes are either out of system or went down with the ships that were carrying them... your preaching to the converted..."

"How do you know-"

"I know that look Kat" Carter cut her off.

"You could say _no_"

"no"

"You don't even want to hear it?" Kat pushed

There was a short pause in the conversation "Fine I'll hear it."

"Remember that accident a few years back, colony ship in Atlantis Stigmas? 700 dead."

"Vaguely, it was a slipspace drive malfunction, right?"

"Actually, the engine worked fine, the drive was merely mounted improperly after a service haul out. When it activated, it teleported half the ship to oblivion."

"and this is relevant how?"

"A certain Covenant Supercarrier could, with some assistance, suffer the same terrible accident..."

"Damnit Kat, even for you that's-"

"Vile?"

"Not the word I would have used..."

Then the others also seemed to get wind of the argument and decided to join the party... we all walked over to them. "What's going on?" asked Jorge

Carter nodded to Kat "Go ahead, explain"

Kat reached towards Emile's knife on his chest who protectively put his hand over his knife as Kat grabbed the hilt. "May I?" she asked.

After a short pause Emile nodded "Don't cut yourself."

Kat drew the knife and began to start drawing a small plan in the dirt at her feet. "Objective, destroy Covie Supercarrier in Geo-syncronise orbit above Reach"

"Is this sanctioned sir?" Jorge muttered to Carter soft enough so Kat didn't hear it.

"What do you think?" replied Carter

"no..." sighed Jorge

"Method" continued Kat "A slipspace drive in lue of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system; us. Solvable: Getting us up there... that and getting our hands on a slipspace drive..." she stood back up and flipped the knife so she held the blade and held it out to Emile. "Thank you for sharing" she said as Emile took the knife back."

"Sooo" started Carter "All we need is space travel capable transport and the single most expensive piece of equipment known by man?"

"As a soldier in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources... that said... a good place to look might be, oh I don't know..." I heard so much sarcasm laced into those words... words that seemed to be more and more directed at me. "the nearest non-existent launch sight of a non-existent Saber Program dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumors? And in which our newest member, was certainly never a pilot for.

"I'm scared, you know that?" sarcastically remarked Emile

"All we need is a green light from Holland."

"Good luck with that" sighed Carter

"You're the one asking him." Replied Kat with a smartass tone and handed him a small blue device.

"Oh there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this..." Carter sighed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We were taken by Falcon to the edge of this launch facility where we were dropped off. We readied our weapons.

"It's a bit of a hike to the launch facility isn't it?" asked Jorge

"Any closer and it's too hot to land..." replied Carter who then made a hand signal ahead of him "Move up the beach noble..."

The dream fast forwarded and I got to kill a bunch of aliens before making it to a room with slaughtered marines... at the end of the room I found a dead elite at the feet of a marine with an assault rifle, how he killed it, with an assault rifle, was beyond me, because that Elite was pretty high ranking and had an energy sword!

"Your fighter is ready Spartan!" said the Marine.

I headed towards the Fighter, it reminded me a bit of the FA38 or Robe of the Dragon that Alexander had found back in my world. The dream was controlling my movements as I got into the fighter, which had med sit horizontally so I was sitting with my back pressing into the chair, facing the sky. Then an automated voice came over the loud speaker.

"Launch preparations completed, launching in T-minus 5 seconds."

I felt the plane thrust forward and I got crushed against my seat, the pressure built up rapidly, getting stronger and stronger as the plane lifted off the ground... it got to the point where I had to close my eyes and I felt as though I couldn't take it anymore... then the feeling died down and I dared to open my eyes... my dream self gasped... before me was a vast, dark void... filled with bright white, yellow, orange and red dots here and there... a large rock floated before me and other constructs floated around in the void... there were patches of glowing dust and a strange gas flowing from the closest rock to me... I... I didn't know where I was anymore, this endless void of space was... too much for me to take in... Where was I? I looked back from where I came... I couldn't see the ground anymore... I was above Reach... but I was so far that I had lost contact with it. It would no longer protect me, I was helpless now! But it was not so, this little plane protected me from the evil energies of the void... I understood now, slowly I began to get it... this _was _the void, up out of the reach of the worlds this was where the void energies were stored, unaffected by the energies of Fire, Air, Water and Earth... this was their element's home!

After a fight with incoming Covenant fighters we docked at a strange floating station, Jorge, who was with me, left the safety of the plane and to my surprise managed to float over across a large distance to the waiting Pelican which was latched onto the station, holding the drive we wanted.

"Noble Six, this is Holland" said a voice over my helmet's communications.

"Go ahead sir" I said

"We've acquired your slipspace bomb for you, Noble Five will escort the bomb, but I need your saber team to clear the way for boarding."

"Understood Colonel."

"And since she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the Savannah will be joining you to provide local fire support."

Then another voice came through my helmet. "UNSC Frigate Savannah here, our wings may be clipped but we've got your back."

"I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one Lieutanant" said Holland

"We'll get it done Sir, Six out."

The dream fast forwarded again so that I was standing inside a ship, a Covenant ship from the looks of it. I had just opened the doors for a UNSC Pelican to land and drop off Jorge and some marines... I jumped down to talk to him.

"Noble Six, the re-fueling run with the Supercarrier will have to be initiated manually, head for the bridge... Noble Five, stay here and discourage in curious..." said Holland over the comms

"My pleasure sir" replied Jorge who then turned to me "Hear that Six? I'll be here all by my lonesome... so try and make it quick would ya?"

Fast-forward again...

I had just witnessed the Savannah get blown to pieces by the guns of the Covie ship we were in... and... oddly enough... despite the fact that there were tons of people abroad... I didn't feel as sad as I would have otherwise been... maybe the fighting in this world had numbed my senses of pity and remorse? Or maybe it was just that my Familiar was a cold hearted son of a bitch at this point...

I returned to Jorge after initiating the fueling run... I heard a beep from the slipspace bomb...

"Damnit... so it's gonna be like that huh?" Jorge turned to me "Well, I got good news and bad news" he said and crossed his arms. "This bird took some fire on the way here and now its thrusters are toast which means the only way off this slag heap, is gravity..."

I didn't like the sound of that... I glanced out the energy shielded doors of the ship to the side. "And the good news?" I asked hoping for something better...

"That _was _the good news" replied Jorge...

"At this velocity, thirty three seconds to en-" started Dot

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Jorge removed his helmet and threw it to the floor... "The bad news it; the timer is fried... I'm gonna have to fire it manually..."

I didn't know what he meant by that but Alexander seemed to know what it meant "That's a one way trip" I said

"We all have to make it sooner or later..." replied Jorge "Better get going Six, they're gonna need you down there..." he reached for his neck and pulled off a dogtag necklace "Listen Reach has been good to me, time to return the favor..." he grabbed my hand and latched his arm around mine, pushing his tags into my palm and also managing to lift me off the ground "Don't deny me this."

He carried me over to the hangar doors... I didn't like where this was going... "Tell 'em to make it count..." and I was thrust out the doors into the void, which at this point was close enough to the world so that I was still pulled towards the ground... I hoped this suit could protect me from multi hundred thousand meter drops...

As I fell away from the smaller Covie ship I saw the giant Covie Supercarrier above the smaller ship... I got farther and farther until I saw the small ship start to crackle with energy... a few seconds later a giant ball of black energy engulfed the middle of the Supercarrier, cleaving it in half... as the two pieces fell away from each other they began to explode and rip themselves apart... it was a beautiful sight... but now I also understood that Jorge was gone... he was dead with the ship... but, at least he had died with honor, protecting his home, giving the ultimate sacrifice in the end... I figured his death would not be in vain... however I was soon proven wrong...

I looked away from the exploding Carrier, towards a bright light in the distance... there were multiple rips and holes in the void and I started to see huge whale shaped ships emerge through the holes, there were at least a few dozen of them... an entire fleet from the looks of it... containing multiple ships of the size of which the one we had just destroyed was... Jorge had died in vain, and my heart sank... as the ground got closer and closer I awoke with a thud as I fell off my bed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Never thought we'd be back here..." I said

*BING*

I turned around to see Alexander walk into a lamp post... "Oww" he muttered

"Whhyyyy?" I strained

He stumbled over to me, almost falling over in the process, followed by two marines; Private Woods and Sergeant Montgomery. "I can't help it, I'm high as fuck right now, no thanks to the good old doctor..." he pointed to the marines "That's why these guys are here, since I'm being pulled out of the med-bay so soon they are here to make sure I don't do anything stupid while I'm supped up on these painkillers..."

"Speaking of which how's your arm?" I asked and Alexander flexed his new arm, if you listned closely you could hear a slight _weering _of the mechanical innards... his arm looked real enough, like he'd never lost it, but it made un-human sounds and if you flicked it, it hard enough it _pinged._ Mind you could only hear them if it was dead silent and close enough...

"It's fine... but... whoa... I feel dizzy..." replied Alexander. "Feels a little sore at the shoulder when I reach up though..."

"Well, at least your recovering quickly..." I sighed, I still felt bad for him, losing your arm... I mean... that's gotta suck... but he only took it like he just scraped his knee... whether it was bugging him or not, I know not for sure. "As I was saying... I can't believe we're back here... I can't handle that guy..."

"Who?" asked Jenny Woods.

"Oh the owner of this tavern..." I pointed to the Fairy Tavern which we were all standing around outside of. "Seriously, that guy... girl... whatever... just pisses me off pretty quickly... trust me, when you get in, you'll be in a rush to get out..."

"I hear that..." said Jude Montgomery

"Whoa! Dude!" Exclaimed Alexander

"What!?" we all asked

"Why... is everyone so hostile here..." he looked a bit zoned out... I slapped him across the face with a loud *thwap*

"Thanks..." he grunted and rubbed the side of his face... "why are we even here again?"

"Remember Anies told us to come here, I'd guess Her Majesty has some sort of job for us in store." I said

"Well... let's get this over with then..."

We all started to head in, and once we entered the Fairy Tavern were... well... for lack of a better word... flabbergasted at what we saw... I could almost physically see the gears turning in everyone's head.

"What"

"The"

"Fuck" said all the UNSC personnel in order.

"Well well! Perfect my little imps!" screamed Scarron to his/her workers who were all in weird getups (and I mean weirder than usual). Jessica in particular was wearing a pair of red short-shorts and some fancy white prince's shirt... meanwhile, Scarron, not so surprisingly, was wearing a pink dress with green frills... _What the fuck _was probably the most appropriate response... given the situation...

"Uh... erm..." I stuttered, getting their attention... "H-hi... everyone..."

"it's been a while huh, Mister Scarron?"

"Ah!" Scarron exclaimed "That's not right! Everyone together now!"

"Touch me and die..." Said Alexander, raising his magnum, which shut everyone up... "My tolerance level is really low today, I just lost an arm so, if you'll excuse my crappy mood..."

"Well then I will just say it! SHANG-HAI!" then all girls erupted into cheers of "Ma Mademoiselle!" and I saw the marines had WTF looks plastered to their faces...

"And this?" started Jude

"Is an average day in the life of me..." finished Alexander... "Believe me when I say: you never get used to it..."

Jessica approached me "Hey, it's been a while, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for someone... but... what's with those getups?" I asked

"Oh these? We'll be performing _Vacances en Tristania _tonight..."

"Do I even want to know?" asked Alex... then unfortunately for all of us, we got their answer...

"We'll let the world know of our beauty!" exclaimed Scarron while he and his girls all _awed _in bliss at their fantasy... I could faintly hear Jenny and Jude in the back ground going;

"What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuck, What the fuuuuuuuuck!?" as though they were stuck on a processing loop... which they could have been for all I know...

"Yes!" a big hand slammed on the shoulder of me and Alexander, "This is perfect, you two will get on stage as well... since we're in need of manpower, bring your friends too!" he nodded towards the two marines.

"Whaaaaa!?" we all exclaimed but Scarron was to busy addressing his workers to notice...

"Alright my fellow imps, time to open store! So get ready!"

"Yes, Ma Mademoiselle!" they all cheered...

"Uh... hm..." I stuttered out, getting their attention.

"Oh!" Scarron exclaimed "Why are you two still standing around in a daze? Shouldn't you be helping out in the store?"

"Actually, we're kinda pre-occupied..." said Alexander...

"Ssssshush! Alex and company will help in the kitchen while Louise will go with everyone else to change into costume! Quickly, quickly!"

"W-wait we!" I started... but nope...

Besides... once all was said and done... I had to admit I looked much better in white than the black special outfit that I used a while back... more natural in my opinion...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

Jude, Jenny and I were all lined up behind the bar counter, I leaned on the counter with mu elbows down and casually glancing around the room, in a inconspicuous way.

"Is this how it's like normally?" asked Jenny

"Unfortunately..." I sighed...

"Damn" said Jude "What the hell is with this place, it reminds me of Hooters from back on earth... that damned Yank bar and all their... fine... but... yankish women..."

"You have a problem with Americans?" I asked

"No, I just like saying Yanks..."

"Of course..." I sighed "Which brings up a little something I'd like to mention, a while back I came here before and there was a little competition to see who could earn the most tips... suffice to say the girls with the biggest bust came out on top..."

"Ha, that's what she said..." muttered Jude... "Sorry..."

Jenny rolled her eyes... we'd all changed to our fatigues so that we didn't scare off the bar patrons... "Oh c'mon" she groaned and groped her own chest "They 'aint all that big..."

Me and Jude gulped at the sight but refrained from making it obvious... "Well.. the number one winner here would be Jessica by a land slide... Second would be Mary and then Third is Jungde... erm... I think that's how you pronounce it..." I then snickered "Then of course last would be Louise..."

I heard a angry growl from behind "She's behind me isn't she?" I asked to which the two marines nodded...

"I'm sorry but what placing were you talking about just now?" she hissed

"Oh you know what I was talking about..." I said, not bothering to hide it... "But remember what I said when we first got here?" and Louise paled "Touch me and die" I reminded her... "The thing is that I'm so fucked up on adrenaline right now that I'd probably do it too..." I lied, but at least it was effective and prevented her from doing anything she'd regret...

"Hey Louise! Someone is here for you!" called Scarron... saving Louise from a few broken bones... "C'mon!"

"Right right! Coming!" she stood up and walked over to a table where a blonde man in a white robe and blue cloak sat... she seemed surprised but eventually she sat down with him and they started talking... she glance over at me and I could see her flinch as I shot a dagger eyed look at her, then at Julio... as I said... I _really _didn't like that guy...

"Sir, don't tell me-" started Jenny

"Jenny I have authority over you..." I stated bluntly

"And I'm shutting up..." finished Jenny in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Screw this shit, I'm getting a beer..." muttered Jude... who then tapped me on the shoulder "hey erm... got any money for a beer?"

I rolled my eyes and then remembered the sword I had sold a long time ago after Kirche tried to give it to me... I remembered it had sold for a lot... now was probably the best time to invest what I had earned...

"Ha" I laughed "Oh yeah... first few rounds' on me."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I had to take some empty bottle out to the back alley for Scarron... I left Jenny and Jude inside as Jenny had passed out on one of the tables and Jude was half-dead-drunk trying to stay awake and look over her... me on the other hand I'd gone much lighter, only had a few light drinks so I was relatively sober... still... probably wasn't a good idea to be driving though anytime soon...

Outside I contemplated why Julio was here... probably because of Louise... but then the thought hit me, why the hell did I care who Louise ended up with, I mean sure, I wanted her to get a nice guy but... who in their right mind could love such a stuck up and uncaring brat like her!?

I then got bumped into, a high pitched feminine voice yelped and the woman who had bumped into me fell on her ass...

I sighed, trying to refrain from lashing out that the woman should watch where she was going... "Sorry" I groaned through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me..." said the girl... "I would like to know if there is a place called _The Imps of Niwaku _nearby, most people just call it the Fairy Tavern though..."

"Yeah, that's right here... why?" I processed the voice for a moment... then we both seemed to come to a conclusion...

She threw her hood back "Alexander!" she exclaimed

"Henrietta!?" I exclaimed back at the purple haired princess...

I then heard off in the distance the voice of a grizzled soldier no doubt... "Search over there! They might have run towards the west side of town!"

"Come this way..." I said and managed to sneak her up to one of the rooms on the top floor of the Fairy Tavern... the one where the girls had changed before...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Henrietta's POV**

"What the hell are you doing here!?" questioned Alexander "Wait, don't tell me... this is another one of your stupid and reckless ideas and/or plans isn't it?"

"Well... I'm here to ask for you help..." I replied

"And you couldn't have sent Anies or a guard to inform me? I could have met you at the palace if that was the case... but nooo... you have to sneak down here while there are guards running all over the place... which can only mean that either shit is happening right now... or... or... oh I hope that's not the case..."

"Well... enough for now... I wanted you to be my bodyguard for the time being... that's why I didn't send Anies or another."

"Me? You're bodyguard? But... you're a queen... shouldn't your guard be more... noble? I mean, I kinda stand out dont'cha thing?"

"I'm on a secret mission, not even the castle guards can know... that is why I need you, you are the only one I can rely on now..."

"What about Louise?"

"She needs to stay her for the time being... but don't worry... you won't be missed..."

"Oh... so that's why Julio was sent here..."

I nodded

"Well... if that's what you want..." Alex sighed "Sure, I'll come with you... but you know I still want to slap the shit out of you for doing such a reckless thing..."

I flinched and Alexander laughed softly "Don't worry I'm not going to hit you... this time... but please, try not to do such reckless things in the future ok?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment... "Well then" I started "The soldiers will search in here for a moment... we have no time to lose and must set out now... Alexander... do you have any clothing for which I could use to make me look like a commoner?"

Alexander turned around and rummaged through a chest nearby "Well there is Louise's shirt and skirt... but...

"That will do..." I said and dropped my dress... and then Alex turned around he nearly dropped the shirt... "Thank you, Alex... the shirt please?"

"Y-y-yeah..." he stuttered and averted his eyes and handed me the shirt... then I swore I heard him mutter "Why do women have no shame in stripping down right in front of me? Huh!? Really! Why!?"

I started buttoning up the shirt, not sure if it would fit properly... until I buttoned it up as much as I could... "Erm... the shirt seems a little small..."

"I can think of a reason for that..." muttered Alexander, who I think cast a glance at my cleavage through the _V _shaped opening in the shirt along the length of my chest...

"Alright... let's go" I chirped and we set out.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Damn, there are guards everywhere..." whispered Alex "How should we go about this?"

The rain was pouring down and soaking through our clothing... Alex wore a civilian outfit from his world, he wore clothing in a similar color pattern as his Spartan Armor, with a Black and Golden over shirt called a hoodie which had a large pocket in the lower center of the garment. He also wore blue pants called jeans which seemed to be made out of a rough material, to which he insisted were actually quite smooth... along with a pair of white and grey shoes he called sneakers... odd names for clothing but to eaches-own I guess... he also explained that his clothing was far too big for me to wear...

"If we cover our faces we are more likely to arouse more suspicion and be investigated..."

"Right... then..."

"Alexander! I have an idea... put your arm around my shoulder please."

Alex raised an eyebrow but did as he was told... we started walking past the guards, who cast many weird glances at Alex and I, but did nothing to stop us as I leaned into him... imitating two lovers... which... to further sell the deception... I pushed Alex's free hand into my cleavage, which made Alexander turn very red and stutter.

"OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG" which I didn't understand why he kept saying O-M-G over and over... but it worked even better than I had planned as the guard commander scoffed and rolled his eyes and led his troops away from us... the rain started to get harder however and we had to find shelter for the time being...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We found a small room in a nearby Inn to stay for a while until the rain died down... I sat down on the only singles bed in the corner of the already cramped room... Alexander stood by the window looking out into the darkness...

"Hey, you sure your ok with this? The room I mean... cuz well... it's a bit cramped wouldn't you say?"

"It'll do..." I replied to which Alex simply nodded then went back to looking out the window...

"Damn, it's really raining hard 'aint it?" he sighed "Chances are it will last all through the night at this rate..." he glanced back at me...

I didn't realize it but I had been shivering with cold, this shirt wasn't exactly thick, and it was soaked through as well... not helping my temperature.

"Henrietta?" Alexander asked concerned "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing... I'm... I'm just really cold..." I glanced away from him. "Um... Could... could you hold me for a bit..."

"Err..." Alex stuttered "Um... that is..."

I shivered again, this time on purpose...

"Ok... ok... fine..." he sat down next to me and put his arm around me... I could faintly hear a small buzzing sound from his arm... I leaned into him...

"That reminds me... how's your arm?" I asked

"Better... though my shoulder is rather sore of late and the sensitivity of the artificial nerves aren't fully attuned yet... it will take a while before I have full feeling in my hand again..."

"But, it feels so much like just your ordinary arm..." I stated

"Well... I guess since it's been half a decade since Reach... Kat had a much more robot looking arm... I guess they got down the realism part for prosthetic limbs..." then I think he muttered "Don't be holding yer breath on realistic dicks yet... still need a..." he shook his head a bit... "Nevermind..."

"What was that all about?"

"Oh, just pointless rambling... I'm currently intoxicated with a couple beers and high on painkillers and adrenaline... its amazing I'm keeping my sanity right now... but hey, I had mental training for... situations... like... this..." he stuttered to a halt "actually that would be bullshit, I've never had training for situations like... _this_... but I have for the _keeping your cool while under effects of mind altering drugs _thing..."

"I'm confused..." I said

"Nevermind, forget I said anything..."

"Ok..." I rested my head on his shoulder... which seemed to catch him by surprise...

"Erm... Milady..."

But just as I was having a nice moment a loud banging came from the door to the hallway...

"Open up!" boomed a commanding voice "This is the Royal Army, open up quickly or I will bash this door in!"

Against my better judgment I went with the first idea that popped into my head...

"Ma'am?" Alex asked

"It... I guess it can't be helped..." I said

"What do you mean- holy shi- Mmmhh!" I had removed my shirt and pushed him down despite my dainty arms and was planting a long kiss on his lips, pushing into him when the door was bashed open.

"It's open!"

*Wa-bam*

"Eug..." the guards stuttered and slowly backed out... closing the door behind them... I didn't' see their reaction... however I am guessing it was pretty embarrassed...

However even after they left I found myself still pressed to him, trying to one-sidedly make out with him... however despite the fact he wasn't returning the pleasantries...

Then was until...

**-THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH(S)/SENTANCE(S) ARE DEALING WITH SEX/BORDERLINE SEX, SKIP, OR READ WITH CAUTION-**

I found him returning it... I found that this act of returning my gestures made my heart throb a bit...

I pulled away from him only bringing my face a mere centimeter away from his so I could speak to which I found myself whispering his name...

He reached a hand behind my head and brought me back for more... I could tell he had done something like this before, which really didn't surprise me... his hands drifted down my back before stopping just above my butt...

I wanted to feel more... another jolt of pleasure like when he began to kiss me back... I reached back and moved one of his hands onto one of my breasts, it was his real one I could tell due to the reaction it brought on.

His face turned red and he stuttered a bit... before I began using my other hand to kneed my other breast... which got the boy going a bit more... following my example...

While he played with my chest he brought me back for another kiss... when he pulled away again I moaned lightly which seemed to break him free of his stupor... he shook his head.

"No" he said... and pushed away from me... "No, I don't think this is right..."

I cursed under my breath, I'd gotten so wet already from the actions he'd been doing... and something told me he could tell...

"Sorry to leave you hanging like that... but... I don't think that this would be right... you're a queen, I'm a commoner, and I'm not even from this world... which makes it even worse... I'm sorry but... no... I can't continue these... actions..." he glanced away from my topless body. "Just, put your shirt back on and get some rest... we leave as soon as you're ready..."

**-ALL CLEAR- XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"Why did you do that?" I asked as we lay on the small bed beside eachother, back to back...

"To fool the guards into leaving..."

"Pfft..." I scoffed "A little much for someone who wasn't even here after the first few seconds... but that's not what I meant... I meant why did you run away from the castle?"

"Oh that... well, that was to lure a betrayer out..."

"A traitor? You know you could have told me this before..." I said I little miffed that I'd had mission critical data kept from me...

"I'd leaked news of me going missing in hope of luring him out... but I had my doubts that the ruse would work that easily, so to sell the deception I ran way for real..."

"Ran away for real?" I inquired "If you'd gotten into danger while you were out-" she cut me off

"That's why I wanted Alexander to be my bodyguard... I wanted you to protect me... just like you protect Louise..."

"So, in a sense... I've been tricked as well?" I asked with narrowed eyes...

"Sorry" she sat up while next to me. "But doesn't lying to your enemies mean lying to your allies as well?"

"Not necessarily" I sighed and rolled my eyes...

"Either way, it's getting late and we need to move now... I'll fill you in on the plan in a bit... for now we head towards the Theater."

"Could you be more specific?"

"There's only one big theater in town so we are heading there"

"Great... that helps so much... hold on..." I typed a few messages into my Tacpad before getting up and following the Princess out.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I peeked out at the crowd from behind the curtains on stage who had gathered in the stands and seats all around the theater... there was easily a few hundred people...

"Alexander!" yelped a shrill voice... I turned around and saw Louise with her pink hair wrapped in some silly head dress you'd expect to see in a mother goose story... "Aren't you supposed to be with Her Majesty?" she asked

"I was, she went back out with Anies and a few of the G.P Squad units... how did you know?"

"Anies told me earlier..."

"Oh... I see..."

"Hey, hey! What are you two standing around for!?" exclaimed Scarron who appeared to my left/ Louise's right... "It's your turn to go out now... eehhhhh!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I watched the play as it progressed from nearby... while sitting on my goddamned hind legs... it seemed even in plays I was a fucking dog... go figure... I bet it's irony at work...

"Hey what's this!?" exclaimed Scarron, whose character I still didn't know the name for...

"This is called: the Liar's Mouth" said Jessica who played the part of the dude, which was way too backwards for my taste... she seemed to even go out of the way to hide her substantially large bust so that she almost looked flat chested... almost... she'd actually be passable for a real guy if it wasn't for her so easily defined curves... "If a liar sticks his or her hand in it, he or she won't be able to take it out again."

I took a look at this _Liar's Mouth... _It was a freakin' poorly animated kitty cat or lion head... I couldn't tell really...

"no! No! What shall I do!?" exclaimed Scarron

"why don't you try it?" asked Jessica

"No, no it's to scary!"

Scary my ass... I whispered to Louise "This... has got to be... the worst play... ever... of all time..."

"Agreed" she replied

"Reminds me of that one time when I told a rookie to throw a spike grenade and he threw it at a wall and I said: That... was the worst throw... ever... of all time..."

"Huh... do tell" whispered Louise with sarcasm...

As the play progressed I noticed a commotion begin in the rear of the theater... I saw Henrietta and two men arguing... then suddenly four G.P Knights stood up behind her ready to arrest the alleged traitor when...

A group of ten men stood up behind the traitor... along with ten more up on the balcony to the left then ten more to the right... three four men then manned each corner of the theater with muskets... each musket went off causing a panic, making all the civilians to flee the building... leaving Henrietta and three incapacitated G.P Knights and one dead knight...

Scarron and Jessica and the rest of the cast had fled behind stage and were peering from behind the curtains... I used my Nano-transformer to change into my armor and to my surprise Louise had been holding onto Derflinger for just a time like this... she threw me the sword which I held in one hand and a magnum in the other... however before I could do anything one of the traitor's soldiers grabbed Henrietta and held a flintlock to her head...

"Bup bup bup!" said the traitor Lishmond... "One wrong move and this queen bitch get a bullet to the brain..."

"What do you want!?" I demanded

"I want for Albion to emerge victorious... I want to rule Tristain myself as it's prefect... I want power... what else is there for me to want!?"

"Is there no way I can convince you to leave her alone and leave here before I rip you a new one?"

"I don't like your attitude commoner..." said Lishmond

"And I don't like you threatening my friends..." I raised my magnum and shot the soldier holding Henrietta in the head, spurting blood from a hole between his eyes...

I quickly pressed a button on my Tacpad... green light...

"GO GO GO!" the stained sky windows all shattered as Fireteam Charlie and elements of Fireteam Bravo burst through the glass, rappelling in on ropes, holding Magnums and SMGs in one hand while firing at the soldiers on the balconies, ripping them to shreds... Snips and Cutup managed to eliminate the hostile snipers before touching the ground... the ground was covered with shattered glass...

I looked over to a few surviving soldiers on the balcony who loaded muskets... I joined the battle with Derf in one hand and my magnum in the other... I leapt forward killing a few swords wielding soldiers.

"HARDCASE!"I yelled and pointed to the left balcony with the most enemy soldiers. "SUPRESSING FIRE!"

"On it!" he aimed his SAW at the balcony which was then ripped apart exposing the enemy soldiers who had been in hiding... they were then cut down, their blood seeping down the walls to the first floor... by now I'd noticed Lishmond had escaped down a secret tunnel on the stage... I was stopped by Henrietta who was hiding across from me with one of her recovered guards...

The other balcony was still firing at us... the ground and left balconies were clear however.

"AAH!"

"Echo is hit!" yelled Fives... I wondered how he could have taken damage but when I ran over to check on him it seemed that a bullet had pierced a chink in his armor at the shoulder... it was a miracle shot that slipped past a joint in his titanium alloy armor plating and through the tight fittings of his Kevlar under coat...

"Damn, lucky shot..." I said, then without looking I pulled my magnum and fired a round... due to the facial expressions of Echo and Fives however I knew I'd hit the enemy... "However there is a damned large difference between luck and skill..."

We finished off the enemies on the right then tended to the downed G.P squad units... one was K.I.A while the others would recover... after a while I heard a gunshot from the tunnels and wondered what was going on...

I then saw a rappel get shot up from the secret entrance... and a single woman appeared from the entrance... it was Anies, in her new ODST armor, holding her helmet under her and the severed head of Lishmond in her free hand...

"It's done..." she said "But... before I slew him... Lishmond said that there was some special documents under the Tristain Academy of Magic... is that true?" she asked

Henrietta looked around nervously before nodding inconspicuously "You have permission to investigate them... I will send word to Headmaster Osmond..." she said

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Back outside, the town guardsmen had already started to clean up the mess and were securing the area...

"So..." said Louise "What exactly were you doing with the Princess while you were guarding her..."

"Oh... nothing..." I said, Louise then leaned towards me and started sniffing like a puppy... "What are you doing?"

"This is the scent of the Princess's perfume..." her voice started to growl "Was there really a need to get so intimate with her while supposed to be her bodyguard? Don't tell me you did something nasty while guarding her..."

"Um... of course not!" I glanced back at her "Besides what the hell were you doing while I was away?"

She tensed up and paled... "N-nothing!"

"HA!" I stood up straight "so something did happen!"

"How dare you question your master's word!" she replied and also stood up straight... raising her wand... I then raised my tazer and she paled...

"We call it even!" I offered

"Fine!"

"Sir!" shouted Sgt. Dempsey from Fireteam Delta "We found something on a corpse of one of the Albion insurrectionists." He handed me a small purple metal battery...

"What is this?" I asked... then someone I hadn't heard in a long time spoke up.

"That would be a Covenant portable personal energy shield, it's weaker compared to those of Elites and don't recharged, much like the ones used on the first Halo ring..." said Cortana

"WHOA!" I exclaimed

"What?"

"You haven't spoken for soooo long! I'd actually forgotten you for a bit!"

Cortana sighed in my helmet... muttering something about humans and their forgetfulness...

"Well what does this mean?" I asked

"I don't know sir, but if this is really Covie Tech... and a shield to boot, then at least that explains why some of the soldiers were harder to take down... but what I want to know is how in the world did they come by this?"

I shook my head and shrugged "I don't know... I guess that's a mystery for another day huh?"

Dempsey nodded "Yeah, I guess so... for now... we have a princess to secure... oh and sir... I just got a message from Sgt. Stacker."

"Hmm? About what?"

"We got a transmission"

"A transmission!?"

"Yup! A transmission from the UNSC!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Ooooohhhhh! Shit's getting serious now huh!?**

**Can't wait for the final battle with Albion, it shall be epic, despite there having been no actual battles yet but meh... and C'mon chapter twenty! Let's make it come in with a nice splash huh? More forerunner stuff maybe? Of perhaps some epic battles! I dunno for sure yet though... so I guess you'll just have to wait... :P**

**Oh and since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys! You're all awesome!**

**Rogue out!**

**But I will milk ten more words so I can get to 7,500 words on MS Word... ok there! :D**

**WTYL guys :D**

**-Rogue**


	20. The Library

**Heads up; the chapter after this might not be related to FOZ/ZNT at all, or at least the anime... I had a special idea in which I could add some halo elements... which might even be incorporated into this chapter... if I have time...**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Louise and I walked through the streets of the capital city, of which I still didn't know the name of... people filled the streets and were cheering for Henrietta and claiming victory over Albion...

"What's all the cheering about?"

Louise pulled my hand "Look! The first battle is a victory for Tristain!" she exclaimed, showing me a poster pinned up on the town message board.

Now, I could have translated the pages by now, if I wanted to stand there for ten minutes looking like a fool... which I didn't... "So what's it say?" I asked.

Louise leaned towards the paper. "It says here that; a week after declaring war, the combined foreces of Tristain and Germania, of about 500 platoons worth, encountered the enemy forces before reaching Albion. They dealt a heavy blow by eliminating their forces... and the casualties on our side were... _minimal by comparison_..." Louise tensed up on the last three words... which I did as well... "What the hell does _by comparison _mean!?" she hissed

"Probably they were still pretty high but considering you won the propaganda is trying to play it down..." I said. Still... it looked like the common populace was eating up the news better than an old grandpa with a Sunday edition newspaper.

I nodded and walked away, with Louise abruptly following me "Hey what's your problem!? Tristain won the battle!"

"Yeah, and I'm glad for you... but I was under the impression that Henrietta didn't want to declare war..." I said

"Pressure from the populace and nobility I would assume..." replied Louise "Probably made her cave...still I doubt she took the decision lightly..."

"Hah!" I laughed "And people said this wasn't a democracy!" to which Louise just raised an eyebrow...

"Hey, what's that!?" I exclaimed noticing something for sale in one of the booths nearby...

"It's a piece of clothing..." said Louise

"No shit..." I replied. I stared at the top making sure what I was seeing was right... "What the hell is that doing here!?" I said trying to hold in the exitment... I casually walked up to the stall... and pointed at the top. "Hey where'd you get this?"

"Ahh!" sighed the shopkeeper "I got this item off a man who had claimed to have gotten it from a man who summoned it from another world, and since it's a rarity and most likely one of a kind it's very expensive..."

"I'll give you 50 Ecu" I said

"Deal."

I'd seen the girls on Reach wear this all the time... it was basically a sweater which had been cropped along the stomach line so that it showed off the stomach up to about the mid torso just below the rib cage... there was only one piece missing from this...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We'd been called into the small barracks building which had been erected to house the G.P Squad while they trained the new recruits at the Academy.

"Anies, you called for us?" I asked while me and Lousie stood in front of her desk. And... after a bit of confused explaining... "A secret... underground... Library? This sounds familiar..."

"Yes, there is a place under the academy where secret documents are kept. I'd gotten permission from Her Majesty to browse the contents of the books and records stored in there... but... Headmaster Osmond said he didn't receive any orders to unlock the entrance... hence he refuses to open it..." explained Anies.

"Not even after getting permission from Her Majesty?" said Louise a bit baffled

"Well... it must be dangerous down there" added Julio, who for whatever reason had also come to this... meeting... conference... thing... "I mean since it's an artifact of over thousands of years, the library that is, it must be filled with traps..."

"Of course..." I sighed "Because what kind of old ruin would it be if there were no Indiana Jones style traps in there... if we need to replace something on a stone pedestal, might I suggest _not _using a rock that looks similar to what we are going to take... cuz seriously it won't work..."

"What are you rambling about?" said Louise

"Oh nothing... but besides, Anies, what the hell is so important that's down there that you are trying to retrieve?" I said

"It's... regarding a grudge I've held over the past many so years..." replied Anies to which I raised an eyebrow...

"It's only natural to help our friend in need right?" asked Julio "and since this is how I see it, I figured you guys should come as well..."

"Friends eh?"

"Well, rather than friends... you're more like my best friends..."

For some reason that statement sent a chill down my spine... I obviously hated the guy be he seemed to refuse to see it...

"Louise, you're capable of doing some impressive magic right? Surely a lock like this won't be a problem for you right?" continued Julio

"Well... we could try Void Magic... but if the concentration isn't there it won't work..."

"Well then Julio my man" I said with sarcasm then my voice turned to a more humorous one... this was probably going to bite me in the ass, but I figure it was well over due for an insult at her expense... "Louise is only capable of magic of the explosive kind, she's kinda stubborn that way... Boom over here... Pow over there... Ka-boom from the rear... she's not capable of something as complicated as picking a lock... something that takes time, patience and discipline..."

"Aaaalllleeeexxxx..." Louise hissed... yup, I'd done it! "and since I'm so stubborn!"

And I could tell she was about to prove me right as the small of gunpowder and lead filled the air...

"OH SHIT!" we all exclaimed

*Ka-PEW!*

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Picking a lock huh?" said Eleanor after we all wandered over to her lab after peeling ourselves off the dirt, rock and grass from our trip out the window courtesy of Louise... herself included...

Everyone nodded... meekly...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We all entered the women's bathroom... yeah... the women's bathroom... all of us... I'd also secretly invited Fireteam Delta to accompany us... not known to the others, all the ODSTs of FT Delta were cloaked using Active Camo... I wouldn't have ordered them along if I didn't have a bad feeling about this... the plan was that FT Delta would wait until the door was locked and then run to the library and wait for us there. Also, Private Woods had volunteered to come along...

"This is the enterance" said Anies as she opened the door to what must have been a broom/mop closet... the proceded to push aside a revolving hidden door in the wall opposite of the closet door... wow... just... how clichéd can you get?

We all then followed Anies down a set of shallow stairs... all the while others voiced their opinions on why there would be such a secret library here.

"Seriously they might as well have burned the books and records than hide them here..." said Louise.

"How could they simply throw away royal documents? But... although they can't destroy or really throw them out... it don't think it would be a good idea for them to become publicly known..." added Eleanor.

"Wow... seriously... this is screaming democracy..." I added "Hidden documents, hidden from public knowledge... etc, etc... Sounds like most governments since the... well... ok forever in my knowledge, but still!"

"We're here" said Anies and we all focused on a solid rusting iron door with wooden panels with carvings in the door.

"The lock is formed by three groups" said Eleanor as she looked the locks over. It's easy for each individual lock... but if the combination is messed up, it won't open."

"So, it's like a magical combination lock? Like a keypad or revolving numbers lock?" I compared

"Kinda like a number lock, yes" said Eleanor

"so can you open it?" Anies asked

Eleanor simply held out her wand "Lock! Behold the key and unlock yourself!" she said and all the locking mechanicms swung open, unlatching the door.

"Well... that was anti-climactic" I said morosely

"Thank you, Miss Valliére, but it will be dangerous from here on out, I will go alone from here." Said Anies

"And it's because it's dangerous that we will stay with you." Said Julio

"Besides" added Eleanor "I only opened the lock because I'm curious as to what's in there myself. Who knows, there might be records of past top secret magic experiments remaining in there."

We all showed that same determined look which made Anies cave. "Thanks guys..." she said...

"We'll lets get to it then?" said Julio... we all turned and started to head for the now unlocked door when.

"Hey what do you think your doing down here?" said a voice I knew all too well from the stairs... we turned around.

"Mr. Colbert?" I asked to the teacher man who was holding a lantern in one hand and a tome under his free arm.

"Anies..." he said "The headmaster has already rejected your request."

"Answers from cowards are unacceptable!" Anies shot in reply with disgust and she stormed through the door to the library.

"Anies!" shouted Colbert...

"Wait Anies!" exclaimed Louise and ran after her, naturally I followed, which enticed everyone else to do the same...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Grudges you say?" asked Colbert as we walked through the dank dark ruined hallway towards the library, our only light being from a few lanterns some of us held and the head lights on my helmet and flashlight on my rifle.

"Well, that's what she said." I replied...

Then Anies blew aside the comments "If our army manages to suppress Albion's shipping port, then Her Majesty will personally go to the frontlines. And I'll be following along of course. But first I wanted to tie up some loose ends..."

"Her Majesty will be going to the front?" asked Louise.

Anies nodded "She said that since she signed the declaration of war, causing the army to risk their lives fighting, that it was only fitting that there be no way that she'd simply let others risk themselves while she stayed behind in a safe place."

"So... then who is the enemy Anies is referring to?" asked Colbert

"Shh!" hissed Anies "Someone is following us!"

We all turned around, I flicked off my headlight and lowered my rifle... we all stared behind us into the black void from which we had come... I could hear hurried footsteps... light and somewhat dainty footsteps... and... was that bouncing? I narrowed my eyes... but didn't raise my rifle's light to see what was down there... as I had a hunch... but eventually Anies stepped forward and raised her lantern.

"Alexander!" exclaimed the voice belonging to none other than Siesta... who came running out of the darkness... wearing... the same Red cropped sweater that I'd gotten at the market... along with black stockings under a mini denim skirt. It was a common look back on Reach with the civilian women...

The reactions displayed on everyone's faces took on a range of dazzling colors... Anies's face was that of _What the hell is she doing here, _while Colbert's was more of a jaw dropped _WTF. _Eleanor looked like she was just at a bit of a loss for words... while Julio looked disappointed and Louise looked highly unimpressed...

"Siesta!?" I exclaimed, both not knowing what the hell she was doing here and also having a bit of a nostalgic rush seeing that outfit on her... reminded me of the days back in... oh I'm sorry... I never had days like that... *sigh*

"Look I'm wearing the top you gave me this morning! How is it?" she chirped... then took notice of the others. "Oh I thought it was only you here... I didn't expect everyone else here... hi guys!"

"T-that's the shirt... top... thing... that Alex bought at the market earlier isn't it?" muttered Louise

"And that skirt is from one of my civilian outfits isn't it?" growled Jenny, who had been quiet for some time now...

"Erm... no..."

"Yeah, I think it is!" she hissed

"20 Ecu says it's not"

"And I'm shutting up!" Jenny chirped

Anyways back to the current events...

"In Alex's world young women wore outfits like this all the time... it was fairly common he says..."

"Oh right" said Julio "You're supposed to have said to have come from some far away country isn't that right?"

"You could say that" I said "But that's the reason I wanted her to wear that, a bit of a... nostalgic feeling if you will..."

"But sir, UNSC is here..." said Jenny

"Shut up Private Woods"

"Sorry..."

"He also said that it would fit Siesta well so he gave it to me" added Siesta "He said Louise doesn't have the breasts so it wouldn't look good on her... oh... wait... shit..."

"R-r-r-right..." stuttered Louise... "I-I-I don't have breasts do I!? Flat as a fucking airport runway, eh?! Totally unattractive right?!"

"You. And you're fucking. Big. Mouth!" I shouted as Siesta

"Aleeeeex!"

I glanced up at the weakened ceiling structure "SHIT!"

*KA-PEW*

*Wa-Ping!*

"Ough" I grunted "blackout..."

*flump*

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

*Crinkle*

Someone pulled me out from under a pile of rubble... "Ooooouuuggghhhh..." I moaned "my head... I see stars... and we're underground... is that normal?" I shook my head and looked up at Siesta.

"Alex are you ok?!" she exclaimed

"Yeah, I'm fine... but seriously! Learn to watch what you say!"

"Hey! Siesta is good at keeping secrets! I mean what about the-" I glared at her. "Never mind..."

I stood up and saw Eleanor already giving Louise hell; grabbing and pulling her cheek, calling her a _runt _and scolding her on when the appropriate time to use magic is. To which Colbert seemed a little insulted by...

It was then that we all noticed the cave in behind us...

"Well... we're not going out that way..." I said

"Without a mage that specializes in Earth Magic, I'm afraid that there is no way out..." said Colbert

"S-so what do we do!?" panicked Louise

"Starve half way to death before resorting to cannibalism and drinking their blood to keep hydrated?" suggested Jenny in a grim but light hearted tone, trying to imply a joke... unfortunately it just made Louise panic even more...

Anies sighed "Well, if your all done joking around, we need to get moving, we will cross that bridge when we get to it." and we started down the hallway again, passing a side corridor partway down...

"Yeah, but we don't need to cross a bridge, we need to dig a tunnel..." added Jenny.

I shook my head and sighed "Shut up Woods..." I said

"Yes sir..." she sighed

We returned to our long brisk walk down this god forsaken ruined hall... every now and then I unintentionally glanced at Siesta in a way that would probably have gotten me exploded by Louise.

"So" said Julio from behind

"Hmm?"

"Do the young girls in your hometown participate in war?"

"By hometown I assume you mean world... and yes, they do." I answered

"You have a lot of war in your country then?" asked Colbert

"We, the recent conflict just ended, so there's no war now, and actually, since the end of the twenty-first century in my world, we went war free for nearly four centuries. It wasn't until contact with the Covenant that we were officially at war. Sure there had been terrorist insurrectionists every now and then but they were for the most part easily handled. But now, there is no war that I'm aware of... in times of peace an army wasn't needed as much, however being such a vast... erm... I guess you could call it an empire, but we're not a dictatorship... anyways having such a vast empire _does _require a large armed force to protect just in case, since not all planets we settled were exactly hospitable."

"I'd love to visit you country then some time if there's ever a chance then." Said Colbert.

"There's still a shit load of conflict though..." I murmured

"Seeing young teens participating in war and sacrificing their lives... that hurts me..."

"Huh!" scoffed Anies "This is wartime "Guiding them to fight for their country, it's the duty of teacher like you!"

"But young teens! Anies, he's talking about people hardly into puberty here! Back in my world you need to be at least 18 to serve in the armed forces, mind you people 16 have lied about their age and joined anyways..."

"What you are saying is absurd Anies! You just say such things because you don't know the true face of war!" shot Colbert.

"So, Mr. Colbert, have you seen it?" I asked

"Well... erm... that is..." he stuttered

"I have" said Anies "In the village which I was born, it was destroyed by the army. Rather than a war I'd call it a massacre."

"What...?" I asked, dumbfounded...

"20 years ago, using the upbringing of rebellion as an excuse, the army began the execution of the religious leaders, which was actually all plotted by Lishmond, he eliminated the so called _rebels _and in turn gained a foothold for himself... it's because of him that my friends and family..." Anies stuttered a bit "Innocent people were turned to ash just like that, with no one to take pity or remorse on them... it was a ignite and run strike... I have come to believe that I'm the only survivor..." we had paused while Anies told us her story. "Although I've killed Lishmond with my own hands, the actual person who committed those acts must still be out there somewhere and I want to know his identity!"

We continued onwards, everyone was silent for a while... the silence seemed a bit of a mockery of the drama which had just played out. I'd remembered my time on Reach, on other worlds glassed by the Covenant... and then... I laughed...

"You. Holding a grudge. Like this... for twenty years?!" I asked "Wake up Anies! The world is in flames here and you only care about events long since passed? Call me a cold hearted bastard but I've seen and dealt with much worse than you. I've seen whole worlds, wiped off the galactic map! Billions upon billions incinerated and turned to glass in an instant. Do you see me, seeking revenge? No! You don't! That being said I still highly dislike the Covies, but guess what!? The ones who did the glassing... some of them became our allies! You sure as hell can't forgive someone for committing such heinous acts, but you can move past it! get on with your life rather than dedicating it to finishing a fight which in the end won't change a damned thing! The world is a sick and fucked up place and you'd better get used to it Anies! People like to hurt one another, it's how the world works, it's why battles and wars are fought! If you kill him, will it really make you feel better? It won't bring back your friends and family, trust me on that one, I've tried. And It's because of your grudges that we're most likely to starve to death in this damned hole in the ground! Oh, and Louise's fault as well!"

"Hey!"

"Don't deny it!" I shouted

"Why you..." started Anies before a bright light his us...

"Look ahead!" exclaimed Siesta.

We all looked ahead and after our eyes adjusted to the bright light we could make out a temple looking building carved into the side of a cliff at the end of a bridge... crossing... a bottomless... pit... _naturally_...

Jenny stood beside Siesta and gazed down the pit, she glanced at a loose stone next to her foot before kicking it down...

...

...

...

...

...

...

We all heard a _very _faint *pop* as the stone hit another hard surface which echoed throughout the cavern creating a very eerie effect...

Siesta yelped and abruptly embraced me. "Scary!" she squealed, pushing her breasts into me as she pulled on me. My face was probably a rather derpy one...

Jenny who rolled her eyes then commented "Well, it's not bottomless... oh and Louise, don't you fucking dare explode now!" she then turned to me "Sir, control yourself!"

"Hey it's not my fault Siesta's scared of falling to her death!" I retorted

"You're not helping!" exclaimed Siesta.

I sighed and we crossed the bridge, I had hoped the ODST team had made it here already, and none had been trapped in the blast caused by Louise earlier... as the others made their way forth, I stuck back a little and whispered.

"Delta team? You here?"

I got a tap on my shoulder and I could vaguely see the shimmering glisten of Active-Camo, the A. Ced ODST nodded and waved his hand, signalling other Cammoed ODSTs to follow him, but at this range I couldn't make any others out properly. I ran and caught up with Louise and the others.

"Anyone who disobeys the rules will be cursed to death" said Eleanor who seemed to be translating the runes carved into the archway of the Temple/Library

"What's this about cursing?" I asked

"No magic or damaging of the records here" stated Anies.

"Ah I see..." I groaned and followed the group inside, releasing a gasp along with all the others... I think I even heard a few ODSTs gasp in the background.

"This is amazing!" said Julio as he brushed his hand along one of the many bookshelves in the library. "It's just like Romalia's religious library."

This was amazing, it reminded me of the old Library I'd seen in history books, the one in Alexandria in ancient Greece, only it was darker and more medieval looking...

"So what is it we are looking for?" asked Louise

"It will be from 20 years ago, let's look in the more recent sections." She suggested.

I went and found the proper section, however still, there were thousands of books in this section, which I doubted that there'd really be this much secret information accumulated in just twenty years but hey, this isn't my country! I skimmed through the books, looking for any that might hint at a conspiracy, military assault or assassination. So far; nothing.

Louise pulled out a book and read off the title. "The incident of Danguteal? This isn't it..." she threw it over her shoulder, but Anies caught it before it hit the ground.

"This is the one!" she exclaimed, her hands shaking... she went over to a set of stairs in the middle of the library to read the book. Meanwhile I went and looked around the place. It was massive! I went to the very back, to records maybe ten thousand years old... they were all worn out and dusty... then one book caught my eye... it wasn't dusty or worn like the others... in reality, it wasn't even a real book... I pulled it out and the book case slid aside, revealing a hidden passage way in the wall behind it.

"Well I'll be damned..." I muttered... and was thinking about telling the others when the ground shook... and I heard Louise yell

"Geez! Eleanor! Don't you know to only use magic at the appropriate time and place!?"

"Nevermind that! RUN!"

I saw them all head for the exit but just as they started making for it, the archway collapsed.

"We're trapped!" screamed Louise... and to make matters worse the ceiling started to lower... "And we'll be crushed to death!"

"Everyone!" I yelled "I found a secret passage! Let's go! Move it move it!" I glanced over at the stairs to see Anies still reading away at the book despite the danger. "Anies! Let's go! I grabbed her wrist despite her protests and flailing and pulled her along through the secret passage... once we'd all entered the bookshelf slid back into place, shutting us off from the library.

The room we were in had a familiar look to it... white walls and orange lighting... Forerunner architecture at it's most obvious.

"This... this is Forerunner..." said Anies... "I recognize this from the facility we were at a few days ago..."

"Yeah..." I muttered "Well... there might be an alternate route out then since it's connected to the library, maybe this was intended as an alternate route?"

"Wait, what are you getting at?" asked Anies.

"I'm thinking that Brimir, your founder, either was, or was closely related to the forerunners... why else would there be forerunner facilities near each of the capitals for his countries? Why else can you use magic? It's all forerunner tech!"

"What!?" exclaimed the others

"Maybe Magic isn't real! Maybe it's all a forerunner experiment!? Maybe that's why not everyone can use magic! The Forerunners chose Brimir as the founder for magic, and all his off spring in the thousands and thousands of years since have gotten his magical abilities! It makes sense if you think about it!"

"I don't believe it!" Said Louise

"Well..." I paused "It's only a theory... there's no hard evidence to prove the last part... but I am certain that Brimir was related to the Forerunners somehow."

We were all silent for a while before Siesta spoke up "Well... I'm hungry, and I doubt there is any food down here... let's try and find the exit!" she chirped

"I sure hope there aren't any of those Prometheans down here..." mused Jenny...

We headed down the forerunner hallway until we reached a large round room... it was a junction, with three – minus the way we just came – ways to go.

"Shit..." I muttered, then I remembered something... "Oh shit! Delta! Are you still here!?"

"Delta?" asked Anies... then she face palmed... "Don't tell me..."

A team of ODSTs came out of Active Camo... Sgt. Dempsey was present along with all the others... "Sir! Awaiting your orders sir!" he said. "And by the way... we go left."

He held up a small digital subsonic map. "We did some tests recently and found this hollowed area, we didn't know it was forerunner though." He explained.

We turned left and walked through the hall with our guns, wands and swords ready... there was no telling what was down here... I nervously glanced at the walls on either side of me... They were all covered in blue, purple and orange glowing lines that ran back and forth like veins of data being pumped to and fro throughout the facility... or maybe just power... still... it made me feel uncomfortable...

I heard skittering along the hard metal floor up ahead at an intersection... I signaled for everyone to get down and turn off their lights... if we did that, the lights from the lines on the walls wouldn't be enough to illuminate us properly.

We all hit the deck and turned out flashlights, headlights, lanterns and wands off. Up ahead I could see a tall robotic figure glowing orange along with a small flying unit that looked like a mini Hornet gunship, along with several small doglike robots... the Prometheans were here alright...

"W-what are those?" stuttered Siesta.

"Shh!" I hissed as they went down the hallway horizontal to our direction... we'd go straight in that case... better to avoid detection for now... but then I though... if this place was under the school... and it lead back up to it... if we opened whatever was keeping the Prometheans in here... we could put not only the school in danger, but the whole world of Halkenginia! I turned around to face everyone, kneeling on the floor.

"Ok guys, new objective... we're gonna disable this facility, maybe destroying it's generator or cutting off power will either seal or destroy the Prometheans in here, or at least prevent the creation of anymore. If that doesn't work, we just need to hunt down as many of the bastards as possible." I said "If we don't, the whole of Halkenginia could be at risk!"

Everyone nodded and we continued, going straight as to avoid current contact with the Prometheans who had just left.

We came across a sealed room with a keypad next to the door...

"I can get that for you." Said Cortana "Just touch the pad so I can interface with it... maybe I can even access the facility from here."

I touched the keypad and Cortana dissipated into the facility... the door light turned green and it opened... Cortana then opened a communication channel with me from inside the facility's system.

"Look there" she said and highlighted a rack of... somethings... to my right...

It was a small room with a few racks of what looked like weapons. There were also armor abilities, grenades and tools...

I approached the rack cautiously... and touched one of the weapons... it was long and narrow with a holographic scope on it... white and orange with the signature forerunner colors.

As soon as I touched it is fell into thirty pieces and then reformed in my hand, vibrating like crazy... "Holy shit!" I exclaimed "This is awesome!" I aimed away from the others and pressed, what I thought was the trigger and a three round sounding burst of searing hot solid light shot out. I looked down the scope, the outline of which made me feel like I was wearing 3D glasses since all the icons and notifications in the scope like; ammo, range and direction were all holographic.

"This is awesome" I repeated "Guys, everyone take one of these just in case... I'm calling this one the Light Rifle, since it shoots Light... duh..."

An ODST took a smaller more SMG looking weapons from the rack and tried firing off a few rounds with surprising speed and a manageable spread. "I'll call this the Suppressor!" he said "Since it sounds quiet and has a huge rate of fire!"

Jenny took a smaller one that resembled an orange plasma pistol with a barrel attached to it. She fired a shot which came out as a longer more solid and wider shot that resembled a crossbow bolt. "This should be the Boltshot" she said "Since the rounds are much larger than the other ones."

"Let's get moving" I said after all the ODSTs, Jenny, Julio and even Anies took some weapons... I took one of the newly dubbed Boltshots and gave it to Siesta "Hold onto it just in case ok?"

She gulped and took the pistol from me before nodding.

We headed back out and Cortana was able to guide us through the facility. She said that the main reactor was one level down in the middle of that floor... she said that if we destroyed it, it would blow up the facility, which in turn would destroy all the Prometheans inside. However the walls were solid enough so that it would hardly effect the school. To them it would feel like a small earthquake.

So that's what we set out to do...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We had split up. Colbert, Siesta and Louise, along with Sgt. Dempsey and Pvt. Woods and one other ODST had gone up to secure the exit and to make sure it was really there before we blew the place up... hopefully without us in it.

In the end this was probably a better idea... I didn't want Louise or Siesta to be harmed, and sending them up was probably the safer option... although the word safe isn't exactly accurate when dealing with a facility filled with psychotic and bloodthirsty robots... it was also just our luck that we had to come to a large open room and immediately engage in a firefight...

It was a large room with the generator in the middle, a small opal shaped egg looking thing which hummed with orange energy and crackled every now and then. There were two raised platforms on either side, like raised halls with one open end so you could see down to the lower floor, along with some lesser raised platforms which made the room look like sort of a valley or canyon. We were at the far end of the center of the room, so both overlooks were on either side of us. Thankfully there were enough forerunner crate to provide cover for all of us... well... almost enough... before reaching cover two of the ODSTs with us were shot down by the Prometheans... we'd have to leave their bodies if we wanted to make it out of here alive. I popped up and shot one of the Prometheans on the overlook which I'd dubbed a _Knight _due looking like a suit of future knights armor you'd see in the fantasy sci-fi crossover worlds.

It's shields went down and Anies followed up my burst with one of her own, using a DMR from a fallen ODST. She shot it right in its metallic head, popping it right off as It died and dissipated into golden dust.

"That thing!" exclaimed Cortana as the Knight died "It just let out a surge of data, almost like a memory wipe or something!"

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Not sure... analyzing..." she replied...

We kept firing... taking down scores of the dog like crawlers and the guardian Watchers that floated around their Knight Masters. It was actually really fucking annoying... the moment we got our sights on a Knight, they had a tendency to teleport away and reappear near us... only to be gunned down by another one of us. Of if it was near death a Watcher would create a hardlight shield in front of it and we'd need to take out the watcher... which once it started taking damage would fly away in crazy patterns like a pussy until it was out of sight... then come back at us once it was recharged! Or they'd throw our grenades back at us... or they'd even resurrect any Knights we'd killed! It really pissed me off... it pissed me off so much that I'd taken to just calling them _Those-Little-Fucking-Bastards. _

"HELP!" shouted Private Kashlow. I turned just in time to see him disintegrate into nothing as a beam of intense red light hit him... not even ash was left behind...

"Kashlow!" Exclaimed Cpl. Hamlin.

"Get down Corporal!" I yelled "Sniper at the far left end of the room!"

"Got him!" said Anies and she popped out and took aim... only to get hit a second later.

"ANIES!" I yelled, but she only fell back against the crate panting hard... she had switched to her ODST armor and had removed her helmet as she tried to get her breath back... luckily for her she managed to stay calmed after getting her DMR shot out of her hands which was now disintegrating next to her... "I think I'll sit this one out..." she stammered

"Ok I got this... Hamlin, Bradley, Conners, Foley, Brown, I want suppressing fire on the Prometheans to the right... I'm going to the left to take out that sniper, once I've done that I'll circle around and pick off any stragglers to the right then one of you move up and plant the charges."

"Yes sir!" said the ODSTs

"What about me?" asked Julio

"I dunno... do what you can..." I said... I kinda hope he got hit... not to be an ass or anything... but I really wish he did...

The ODSTs opened up on the Prometheans on the right and I took off, using my arm mounted grapping hook for the first time to pull myself up onto the overhang... once I was up in instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding a shot from the enemy Binary Rifle, since it shot two beams of light rather than one... I shot the Knight with my magnum a few times before running up to it, yanking its red arm mounted Forerunner energy sword off and running it through...

I then took the Binary rifle and picked off the remaining Prometheans... sadly, it wasn't before Hamlin, Conners and Brown got hit... and even worse... Julio didn't... but still, I couldn't believe we'd already lost six ODSTs to these walking bags of fancy bolts... then once it was all clear Cpl. Bradley ran up the generator and planted a nice big block of classic C4 explosives... the remote detonator wouldn't work under here so the timer was set to 5 minutes...

Once the charges were set...

"Let's go, Let's go!" Bradley yelled and we all made towards the top, not even stopping as more Prometheans took notice of us.

"Julio, Left!" I yelled as we ran and Julio fired a charged shot from the Boltshot, which resulted in a sort of scattershot like that from a shotgun, which blew away the Knight.

I dared to look back and saw at least thirty Crawlers on our heels... "Shiiiit!" I yelled

"Take one turn right then head up the ramp." Said Cortana "Oh and pick me up from the next Holopad of Keypad!"

We followed her instructions. Bolts and rounds of hardlight whisking past our bodies... I passed a holopad and scooped up Cortana. We turned right again then left before finding the others at an open door... it led out into the forests near the Academy of Magic...

"Get out now!" I yelled

The others looked back and paled at the number of Prometheans after us... there was no complaining as they fled the facility.

"Detonation imminent!" warned Cortana.

We all dove out of the facility entrance which was built into the side of a cliff...

"Get down!" I yelled and pulled Anies behind a rock as a wave of heat and fire exploded out of the facility.

"Core systems crashing, power failing and key systems are detonating due to lack of safety systems!" said Cortana.

It was a beautiful sight to behold... bits of robot being flung out of the facility and a spectacular light show... all that was missing was popcorn...

Once the fire died down, I looked back at the facility... there was a smoking and sparking Forerunner box next to the entrance.

"A cloaking device" offered Cortana "It must have been hiding the facility from prying eyes..."

"That's a possibility..." I replied... "For now... I'm tired, and It's been a long day... we lost allot of good men as well..." I turned to Anies... "So did you find anything useful out?"

"No..." she said "No I did not..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**And there you have it! Chapter 20! It feels good to get a story out that's this long...**

**I do say, I must prefer only updating twice a week, gives me an extra day to work... I think I'll do that instead, update twice a week (or at least try for it) so probably on Tuesdays and Fridays.**

**Oh and since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys :D**

**-Rogue**


	21. I became Darth Vader!

**I'm starting to get used to breaking away from the cannon plot now, but it will still follow it, just by taking another road so-to-speak.**

**This chapter has been something I've been wanting to do for a while now, also this is two episodes in one, since I'm skipping the next episode since it would have been just a continuation.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I had another dream...

This time I wasn't in the body of my familiar... but observing him from an invisible third person type of view. The dream started a bit fuzzy and then finally the surroundings came into contrast and I could make out the silhouette of Alexander approaching my location, or at least from where I was watching... behind him was the wreckage of the destroyed Supercarrier in flames, purple and blue flames... he was somewhere in the mountains as I could tell due to the mountain ranges behind him. He finally made it to my dream location and knelt down, reaching just outside of my field of view, before grabbing it and moving his arm just center of my vision... he moved his other hand to the slider of the magnum before cocking the gun and standing back up... he started to walk away from me and looked around at the wreck... before limping away.

The scene shifted and what I assumed must have been hours later I saw Alexander approach a ridge... he limp-ran to the top of the ridge and looked out across a... City!? This must have been a city, but it was the largest and most grand city I've ever seen! Despite the fact that some buildings were in ruins and on fire! Towers rose sky-high above the clouds and the metropolis stretched on for kilometers and kilometers! **(A/N: That doesn't sound right does it? Km and Km? Miles and miles sounds better... but meh...)**.Before he jumped down he let Jorge's dogtags hang off by his fingertips while he stood there in silence... He then jumped down the ridge and landed on the top of a low building with a grunt before standing up and raising his gun... wary of his surroundings... he snuck to the edge of the building and vaulted over a railing before jumping down another floor...

Then a voice came through his helmet. "Kilo to dispatch, how's the situation at the tower landing pad?" I recognized that as the voice of Sgt. Stacker, the western sounding man.

"Kilo this is dispatch, Tower landing is green and evac birds are on standby, let's move before that changes!"

"Rodger that dispatch, Kilo-two-three moving out, all able UNSC personnel in the area converging on the evac site."

Alex moved through a structure with it's lighting out and made his way up some stairs... encountering and dispatching three Skirmishers, picking up one of their Plasma Pistols and entering another dark building...

"This is Kilo-four to all UNSC ground forces in the area, keep an eye out, there have been sights of Grunt Suicide Squads in the area." Said a voice through the helmet.

Then another, more annoyed voice "Aww, you gotta be kidding me!"

"That's a negative, stay sharp..."

I didn't understand why it was such a big deal... then once Alex had entered the building I realized that every Grunt he encountered inside, lit up two Plasma Grenades and charged him, trying to blow him up... to no avail mind you as he just popped them in the head with his Magnum.

As he made his way through the dark halls and the ruined maintenance rooms and power rooms filled with suicide Grunts more voices spoke through his helmet.

"Kilo-two-three here, we gotta Covenant Corvette incoming at the evac site... requesting fire support."

"Affirmative Kilo-two-three, firing FPS-1... shot... out!"

*Ka-BAM*

"Target's still standing!"

"Copy that Kilo-two-three... firing FPS-2... shot!"

*KA-BAM!*

"DAMN! How do you stop that thing!" exclaimed Stacker

Alex ran up a set of maintenance stairs in the lower levels of the building before reaching behind a... Laundromat? And using a medkit on his injured leg... he then left the building to the left, picking up an MA37 from a fallen marine... once he stood back up from picking up the rifle, he looked over the railing and recoiled as a Covie Spirit Dropship rose from below the tower and a few Brutes started to shot at him, he returned fire, taking out two of the three Brutes before the Spirit flew away.

Alex headed down a ramp leading to a nearby firefight... there were Brutes everywhere! Somewhere slaughtering civilians while Marines shot at them, so bloodthirsty were they. Alex then used his Magnum to shoot a Brute in the head as it was about to crush the neck of a civilian.

Then one of the Marines noticed him. "We picked up a friendly!" he said

"Spartan!? Where the hell'd he come from!?" exclaimed a female marine.

"Who cares!" retorted the other Marine. "Spartan, assist! We need to secure civilians and escort them to the evac site!"

Alex nodded and just across from the ramp he'd gone down was a set of stairs leading to an overhang which overlooked the field of battle, giving him a good field of fire. It turns out that near the railing of the overhang was a fully loaded Sniper Rifle, which he gladly took from the looks of it. With the Sniper he picked off three more Brutes who were endangering civilians before using the last shot on an unworthy Jackal, reloading, then jumping down to clear out the grunts. He went up to a nearby food stand to pick up another medkit for later use... he glanced at the menu on the food stand, eyeing the Moa burgers which cost 7 cR... he sagged his shoulders before shaking his head... and I swear I heard him mutter.

"Ugh... when was the last time I've eaten?"

He then entered the building which was labelled as a train station of some sort, once he came out to the courtyard in the middle of the building he engaged with more Brutes and Covies... ahead was the tower they had to secure in order to get civilians to the evac site. Alex took cover with his DMR at the ready, sniper on his back and magnum at his side. He rolled out of cover shooting two Brutes in the head before running at the squad leader, jumping on top of a planter and kicking off it doing a aerial roundhouse kick delivered straight to the face of the Brute, making a nice *crack* sound. The Grunts the Brute was commanding fled in terror as they were gunned down by the UNSC. Soon enough the floor was secured... Alex pressed a button to open a door...

"What the hell is taking so long?" complained a Marine.

"Uhh..." said Stacker over the radio "We're evacuating a group of civilians from the floor beneath you, as soon as we're done I'll send the elevator right up."

"Great... and looks like we got more incoming!"

Sure enough two Phantom loads of Covies converged on the defending Marines and Spartan... the Spartan of whom I spoke, ran out to the landing site of the first Phantom, found an emplaced weapon and to my surprise, didn't use it from behind, but rather ripped it off its mount and gunned down all the Covie emerging from the Phantom, before exhausting it's ammo, dropping it and picking up a Gravity Hammer from one of the fallen Brutes...

He then ran back to the defending marines and slammed aside a wave of Grunts before taking on a Brute Chieftain in one on one combat, slamming his own Grav. Hammer into its skull.

"Daaaaaamn Lieutenant, glad you're on our side." Said an impressed Marine who called the elevator again, which opened this time with another Marine inside waiting for the Spartan.

Alex entered the elevator and was taken down a few floors to a group of waiting ODSTs who stood on the edge of section of ruined building... well... either it was ruined of in construction since there were still sections of metal scaffolding in the center of the open space... Alex looked down and all either he or I could see was grey cloud... I assumed it was a long way down...

"Hope you like jumping Sparta, radio's been buzzing about you. Welcome to the Bullfrogs!" said the ODST Sergeant, who threw a large metal backpack at Alex... he put in on and the backpack managed to shoot fire and allow him to fly for short distances! He used this item to traverse the scaffolding and avoiding falling to his death... **(A/N: Yet, if he can survive a fall from space, why can't he survive a fall from a sky-scrapper? Mind answering that for me?) **

Once he'd crossed over the gap and slaughtered more Covies on his advance to the landing pad he entered a building filled with Brutes and a Chieftain or two along with several Shade Turrets. Quickly dispatching the Brutes and making extra sure to avoid the incoming green missiles from the Fuel Rod Cannons that one of the Chieftains was wielding, and stay out of range of the other one's Gravity Hammer. He rolled out of the way of the Chieftain's hammer, grabbing it by its shaft, reeling forward, slamming the bladed side into the Chieftain's face, then yanking the hammer out of the corpse's hands and slamming aside a group of Jackals and Grunts before focusing on the last Chief with a well thrown Plasma Grenade stick. It roared briefly before exploding in a brilliant blue...

"Alright, LZ is clear, bring in the Evac birds!" said Stacker.

Three ships came in, a Pelican to pick up the Civilians and two Falcons, one for escort and another to take Alex to another location he was needed... on the way there he passed... several... distress calls... it was... horrifying... both he and I could only watch from a distance as a squad of cornered marines put up a desperate last stand against three Brute Chiefs, a group of Civilians and Marines were blasted by a passing Banshee, a building was blown to pieces from a shot from the Covie Corvette, three Warthogs were obliterated by several Wraiths... a few Marines being thrown from skyscrapers by bloodthirsty Brutes.

"This is Civilian Transport Echo-two-four, I've got six thousand souls onboard and Covies are just outside, I have to take off!"

"Negative Echo-Four-Two! Wait until that Corvette is gone!" said Stacker over the radio...

I heard the Pilot of the Transport scoff... as the Falcon turned a corner I saw the Civilian Transport... it had taken off already even against the UNSC military's orders. I watched to my horror as a barrage from the Corvette hit the ship and it crashed into the ocean.

"I'm hit! I'm hit! We're going down!" I heard over the radio...

"God no..." said a female marine "I can't watch this..." she sobbed

"Mayday, mayday- AHHHHH!" screamed the radio

"Turn that off, we don't need to hear this..." choked out Alex.

"Should we send search and rescue parties?" asked Stacker.

"No point..." sighed command.

The Falcon landed at a beachhead where a Marine Sergeant greeted him. "You're a sight for sore eyes Lieutenant, those Covie bastards are set up here and we need to get those missile batteries up and online, or else the rest of these transports aren't going anywhere."

"Affirmative" said Six

"Alright Marines!" yelled the Sergeant "Let get these Covie bastards off our beach!"

Alex jumped off the Falcon and onto a nearby Warthog, the Sergeant and another Marine boarded with him as he drove around the small inlet of water and next to a communications building which had been set up as a UNSC outpost... he drove past a Ghost, while the sergeant killed the driver. The hog flew off a small hill and across a walkway and overtop a passing Wraith... this was lucky since the gunner of the hog was able to turn and get an easy shot on the Wraith's exposed power core in the rear, destroying it. Alex pulled alongside a beach wall, where up top was an Anti-Air missile battery. He parked at the bottom and made his way up the wall stairs, gunning down Grunts and Brutes alike, stealing a Brute's Concussion Rifle to take out a Chieftain on a nearby overpass, which also happened to lead to the next battery.

After activating both batteries he was instructed to head back to the comms building. Covie had taken it over and killed the battery operators, not Alex would have to make it back there and fire the missiles. This was almost child's play from the looks of it as Alex ran up the stairs in front of the building, throwing a plasma grenade into the massed Brute Infantry, killing four of them, making the Grunts panic... he ignored the Grunts and ran into the building, headed to the viewport to the first door to the right and slammed his hand down on the big red button on a table in the center of the room.

He looked out the windows as a salvo of missiles flew out from the batteries and hit the Corvette over top of the city, disabling it's weapon systems.

"Civilian Transports are away!" cheered a pilot from over the radio "You saved allot of lives today Spartan!"

Alex, who had made his way to the edge of the beach, gazed out at the sunset... then a voice came over his radio, one that was familiar.

"Six? This is Kat, we picked up your transponder about an hour ago but were unable to contact you, still no sign of Jorge though."

"He didn't make it..." replied Six.

"I see..." sighed Kat. There was a long pause "Either way, your needed back here... we're sending a bird to pick you up..."

"Rodger that." Said Alex, who then popped a green flare and threw it on the ground in front of him...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

I Rolled out of my cot in the UNSC base... it was abnormally quiet today... oh that's right, I'd sent off Fireteam Alpha and Charlie to the frontline to help out with Tristain's battles... they were only authorized for supportive roles and tactical insertions however and wouldn't be playing any roles in the main offensives until I got there... that is... _if _I ever got there... Fireteam Bravo was still here on garrison duty as was the one of the two remaining members of Fireteam Delta... Cpl. Bradley. Cpl Foley and Sgt. Dempsey were also at the front under Sgt. Stacker in the line of command.

I sighed... and headed to the mess hall to grab some food... I entered and threw a few of those dry, chocolate dog biscuits in my mouth and swirled it around with water to make it easier to chew. I swear, why they made MRE's so damned difficult to eat is beyond me. I shrugged at the thought as Pvt. Woods, Sgt. Montgomery, Cpl. Jones and Cpl. Bradley made their way over to me in their fatigues. They all sat down at the same mess table as me.

"We're getting lower and lower on personnel each day of this war." Said Jude. "Sgt. Paddocks of Fireteam Alpha said that they took four more casualties in the past week of the war... Charlie took one casualty, he's injured but Sgt. Stacker said he'd recover. Also we lost a Pelican to enemy fire yesterday along with their pilots... and I mean literal fire! Turns out that fire magic can cause the engines on a Pelican to overheat and explode... if a lucky shot is scored... which it was..."

"Damn... that means less and less people I can count on..." I said "Less and less people with experience.. at this rate we will need to recruit more of the locals... but we won't have enough people to take on the leading roles... to many Privates..."

"Haha..." sighed Bradley in childish humor.

"Shut your privates Sergeant!" I chuckled, full well getting his little humor, but finding it highly immature... I cleared my head... "Wait here..." I ran into the back of the base, in the HQ building and retrieved a few magnetic golden plated Chevrons from my desk before returning to the mess hall.

I handed one Chev to Jenny. "I think you've earned it Corporal Woods"

Jenny stood up and took her new rank. "Thank you sir!" she saluted

"Remind me to do the paper work for it later..." I said... I then glanced at the clock above the entranceway to the mess hall. "ah shit, look at the time, I gotta go... I'm supposed to help Anies with training."

I got up and headed back to the barracks to grab my stuff, equip my armor and then I headed out into the Magic Academy.

I headed into the eastern courtyard where Anies was already up and practicing with her underlings, giving orders and correcting them on any mistakes they had made... she then noticed me and held up a hand.

"Hold up, that's enough for the moment, five minute break then back to it!" she yelled before walking over to meet me. "Hey, what's that expression for?" she asked

I then noticed I was frowning, I shook my head "Oh nothing... just... thinking..."

"About?"

"We've taken a few losses, the UNSC that is, and sure, new troops can be trained, but we are losing more and more of those with experience... losing leaders..." I said "That being said, those who are with me right now are going to be in higher demand due to their experience level... and..." I paused "Considering you have quite a bit of experience yourself..." I flipped a second Chevron in my hand "here." I held out the Chevron.

"A... Chevron?" she asked "What is this about?"

"Um... It's a promotion..." I said

"You're... promoting... me?" she asked like she didn't follow... which I assume she didn't.

"Like I said, in UNSC terms, you're just a Private, which is the lowest rank available... me giving you this Chevron... along with some extra paperwork I need to fill out" I groaned "means that you've risen in the ranks... congratulations on making it to the rank of Corporal."

"Do you have permission to do that?" she asked

"Well, I can only promote people as I see fit to the rank of Sergeant Major, which is the highest NCO rank, anything higher and I will need to run it through with command, but seeing as I can't contact command... I guess I can only officially make Sergeants..." I explained

"I see..."

"So, while your troops rest, want to practice a bit?" I asked

"Sure..." she changed to her ODST armor the same way myself or the other UNSC troops changed, with their own Nanite-Transformer... mine just happened to have a larger data capacity... allowing me to carry more.

Today I let her try out the Scorpion Tank, which was the only armed vehicle we had here at the moment, along with an unarmed Warthog and one Mongoose... I left it unloaded however since I didn't want her to accidently blow up the academy... however getting run over was still a concern...

I sat on the Scorpion next to the driver's seat, she had the bulletproof canopy pulled down but I could still talk to her easily.

"No! Left! Left!" she exclaimed and I face palmed. "Why are there six pedals if there are only four directions!?"

I took the mistake of letting her fire off a round at a few targets I had set up... I put three red targets to simulate enemies and two blues to simulate allies...

"OK... not shoot the group of reds there." I pointed.

"_Firing main cannon" _said the tank's _super _dumb-AI.

*Ka-boom!*

A blue target flew away in pieces, and I nick-named the target earlier today and I was shocked... "You shot Church you team-killing fucktard!" I exclaimed

"Soooorrryyy!"

"Remind me to never let you drive the tank after this..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Anies sighed...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

Later that night I was awoken by the sound of running, then someone tripping into the barracks...

"What now!?" I exclaimed then noticed it was a petite pink haired mage I knew very well... "Louise, why did you wake me?!" I focused on Louise, who I then noticed had tears streaming down her face.

"It's Tristania!" She exclaimed "It's under attack!"

This woke me up instantly, I ripped out of the sleeping bag I was in and equipped my armor before hitting the nearest alarm button... waking up the rest of Fireteam Bravo...

"Sir!" shouted Cpl. Bradley who ran out of the HQ building. "I just got a communication from command! The first element of the UNSC forces will be here in mere hours!"

"That's good" I said to the assembled troops "Because Tristania, the capital of Tristain is under attack! And we're responding!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" all the marines and ODST shouted before suiting up and locking and loading.

Then Anies and her troops rallied through the gates of the academy, reaching us as we loaded who we could onto the unarmed Warthog and Mongoose... we were able to fit four people on the flatbed of the Warthog making six in total and two on the Mongoose... the rest would take horses and one would take the tank and meet us in the town.

"I heard the news!" shouted Anies, "We're going ahead, meet us there!" and her troops rode off.

Colbert, Kirche, and Tabitha had also been awoken by the alarms... along with many of the students... when they realized what was going on, Kirche and Tabitha volunteered to join... and... to my surprise, Colbert said he'd join as well... this way they could get to the capital using Sylphid!

We loaded six marines onto the Warthog, three onto horses and one got into the Scorpion... Cpl. Bradley joined Tabitha, Colbert and Kirche on Sylphid... I bet he looked a bit green already...

Louise and I jumped onto the Mongoose... "Scatter!" I shouted "Just get there at all costs! Break formations if you need to!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We reached the Capital... the central square was a disaster... I saw Anies soldiers... at least half of them already lay dead... the central square... it was burned to glass and the sky was colored a orangish-red haze, filled with smoke and weapon residue, both conventional and energy based... I instantly knew what was going on...

A Brute leapt out at me from a burning building... I stabbed it in the gut with my energy sword as it fell on me...

"Where are all the civilians?" I asked Anies who was hiding in cover, wearing her ODST armor along with a musket which looked a little strange.

"Evacuated, don't worry... it's only this small area here they are holding... since it's the only way up to the Royal palace..."

I paled... "Is Henrietta still here!?" I exclaimed

I got a solemn nod from Anies.

"Damnit!" I yelled. "here" I gave Anies a spare assault rifle."

"Is there anyone else on the way here?" Anies asked

"Six more troops en route... along with the tank, me and Louise made it here since the Mongoose is faster! Also Kirche, Colbert and Tabitha are here with Sylphid the Dragon."

Anies nodded. "We need to hold out until the Tank gets here, there is no way we can make it though the square without fire support, the Covies have automatic guns placed on either side! It's a killing zone! They obviously don't want anyone through there!"

"Where?" I asked, not seeing any Plasma Cannons.

"Oh trust me, they're there!" she assured me, pointed to the bodies of her fallen comrades who were all riddled with plasma burns. "They lured us out and cut down several of my troops before we could make it back to cover!"

"Don't worry..." I pulled out my sniper "That's what I'm here for!" I poked my head out of the cover and moved up, taking cover behind a stone bench. The fountain in the center of the square still shot water, which instantly turned to steam due to the intense heat from it being at the center of the blast which turned the square to mostly glass. I glanced to the right... a plasma cannon on the second floor of a fancy inn... the wall was blown out so it would be easy to take down with the right weapon... luckily... I had the right weapon...

I popped out of cover and killed the Grunt gunner with a head shot... then the other gun... which I hadn't seen on the left, on the third floor of a weapons shop opened fire on me... I ducked back into cover... I heard a loud roar and a blast of fire... I glanced up to see Sylphid blast the gunner with fire in an epic flyby! I held a thumb up in thanks...

"Move up!" I yelled and all the G.P soldiers got out of cover and moved through the square and up the road leading to the palace... I had specifically instructed them to move at a five meter spread since that was the casualty radius of a plasma mortar.

Thankfully we made it up to the palace gates without any incident.

I looked behind me to the sound of engine revving, the Warthog pulled up to us and all the six marines who were onboard piled out. Cpl. Jones pulled out a pair of bolt cutters from the back of the hog and clipped open the padlock on the iron bared gate, which were then easily swung open.

Small ponds were on either side of us along with a field of hedgerows leading up to the front steps of the palace.

*pew* *thuk*

A G.P Soldier fell dead with a Covie Carbine round through her skull.

"Sniper!" I yelled "Split up! Take the hedgerow mazes up and avoid the center walkway!"

We split up, three marines and three G.P Soldiers per side, making their ways through the hedgerows. At nearly every turn we had to deal with a squad of grunts before continuing, the hedges made for some fierce close-quarters fighting, some was even hand-to-hand with Brutes and Jackals.

At the last bend I heard another blast followed by a loud "Damnit!" from a marine from the other side... I peeked around the corner and my shields flared as a single round hit me before I ducked back into cover.

I timed my breathing... then rolled out of cover, firing shots from my DMR in the direction of the enemy shooter, hitting the Jackal sniper in the chest twice and once in the head causing him to fall off the roof of the palace.

"Move up!"

We moved towards the main doorway... Sgt. Montgomery opted to plant breaching charges and bust our way in... I stopped him with a wave of my hand. "No" I said "If Henrietta and her court is still in there then they could be in danger, we go in quiet... Anies, Montgomery, Woods, Jones, Bradley, Tabitha, Kirche, Julio, Colbert, Louise, on me. The rest of you, keep any incoming Covies out at all costs!"

"Yes sir!" replied the Marines and G.P soldiers.

I hand signaled for the others to follow me... we crept into the palace, with Louise right behind me, instructing me on which turns to take in order to get to the throne room... we had to skillfully dodge and eliminate several Covie patrols silently as we made our way to the throne room...

"This way" whispered Louise "We can take a shortcut through the kitchen, just don't knock over any pots or pans."

I nodded and headed towards the door to the room in question, then opened the door as slowly as possible as to avoid making sudden movements or reduce the chance of the door creaking.

The we heard voices... audible voices...

"So, how long do you think we're gonna be stationed here? All I want is to get the job done then collect my pay." Said one baritone, but clearly human voice.

"Same here, these Ape men give me the creeps..." replied another voice.

I put a silencer on my assault rifle and opened the door fully.

"Who's there!?" asked the humans who raised staves, but not before I shot each of them in the gullet with a quick, silent burst from my Assault Rifle.

"What the hell?" I muttered "What are Albion forces doing here?"

"He mentioned something about Ape men..." said Louise "Maybe they were talking about the Brutes?"

"No shit" I replied "but why would the Covies be allying themselves with Albion?"

"I guess we will find that out later hmm?"

I nodded and we left the kitchen into the royal hall... it was a massive two story room with a balcony circling the perimeter of the room with small fancy looking support beams holding it up to the wall... with white wooden railing and peach colored walling with white crowning.

"Lets sneak up to the top" I said "We can get a better view and avoid anyone on the ground."

We found a set of stairs which lead up to the second floor... but to my surprise we heard even more voices... we all took cover behind some of the support beams or pushed ourselves to the ground and as far back to the wall as we could to avoid being seen.

"Do you have the shipment of Wind Crystals?" asked a loud and raspy voice.

"No, I'm a only a merc sent here to observe and burn along with you... the Governor herself will have the Crystals when we get back, but you will only get them if you prove yourself worthy." Said a baritone voice with an evilly scented accent to it.

I dared to peek over the edge to see what was going on... a large burly man with a red shirt and a scared face stood tall, talking to a white skinned and highly armored Brute, who to my surprise was speaking fluent French.

"You stupid humans... you don't even know when you've gotten your hands on forerunner artifacts! The only reason we haven't blasted your kingdom to smithereens is due to the risk of destroying the Crystals along with it!"

"Hey don't look at me... my only wish it to burn things..."

"You are very strange human..."

"No matter, we are nearly done with our mission here... bring out the prisoners!"

Then to the bottom left of the room, a line of Court officials were walked out into the center of the room and lined up as though they were to be executed via firing squad... then... at the head of the room, a flash of purple and a high pitched yelp confirmed my fears...

Henrietta was bound and forced into the center of the room, facing her captured subjects...

"You know what we are here for" said the Human "Withdraw your forces from Albion... of these men and women die..."

"no!" exclaimed Henrietta...

I noticed Anies and Louise getting twitchy... I patted Louise on the back and shook my head... not yet... then tapped Anies on the shoulder and repeated my motions. We were getting good info...

"Then how about we start with this fellow here!?" Shouted the Human who then pointed a bronze mace at the furthest Official on the left who wore a white shirt and black pants. A jet of fire shot out of the mace and immolated the Court official.

"NO!" yelled Henrietta, as if her shouts would stop them.

"Perhaps one more?" said the Brute "I Brakanus will deliver this one" The name sounded familiar... the Brute raised a Gravity Hammer, turned it off and crushed the head of the next Official in line... only five more officials remained.

"Don't give in your Majesty!" yelled another official. "Do not surrender!"

"Quiet you!" snarled Brakanus and grabbed the official by the neck and crushed it with his oversized hand... "Anyone else have any words of _discouragement_?"

There was no reply from the remaining officials...

"You stubborn queen!" shouted the Human "Do you wish to be burned so badly?" my blood then ran cold as the Human picked up Henrietta by the neck, her feet struggling under her... "Maybe we should try a different approach!" he yelled as he threw her to the floor, and struck her in the face at an angle with his mace, not killing thankfully... she gained a cut across her cheek from the edge of the mace.

"I can keep this up if you want!? I can have the Brute join in on the fun! Hahahahahah!"

*SMASH*

The Brute and his entourage looked towards my position... I knelt on the first floor after having jumped off the second one... I slowly looked up... filled with anger...

"Killed by Alien kind nearly a decade ago..." I snarled "Reborn as a clone" I reached to my side and drew a magnum "Transported to a world where nothing makes sense and everything I once believed is said to be false..." I also drew a combat knife "And now you DARE HURT MY FRIENDS!?" I shouted... my voice then lowered, but loud enough so that everyone in the room could hear my death threat...

"You are not prepared..." I hissed...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX (Would it have been mean to cut it off here and wait for the next chapter to learn what happened, cuz that's what I had been thinking of doing... adding the rest of this chapter beyond here was a last minute decision so you guys are lucky.)**

* * *

I looked up into the Brute, Brakanus's eyes... he stared back at my visor... full of an old, awakened rage...

"There is one here... I didn't know..." he turned to his Grunts and Jackals and Brute allies... "Kill him! Kill the Demon!" he shouted, recognizing my armor... I suppose he was a survivor of the Halo events...

I heard Louise and the others draw a few gasps as the mention of demon, the marines on the other hand were indifferent. I was outnumbered one to thirty, but I didn't care, I was pissed! No one hurt Henrietta and got away with it... erm... I mean... my friends... I ran to the right as all the Brutes fired their Spikers at me, I managed to outrun their pacing of shot however, the spikes from the guns always at my heels in the place I had just been... I then leaped towards one of the support columns and kicked off it towards a Brute, plunging my knife into its neck then ripping it's trachea out with the jagged blade, its blood spurting out it's ripped neck. I pushed off the body and fired off a few rounds from my Magnum, killing a Jackal who left his side exposed. As I rolled to my feet I sliced a Brute's legs, severing his Achilles' tendon before bringing the blade down on its chest. Then without hesitation I threw the blade at the Brute standing next to Henrietta, hitting it square between the eyes. I drew dual magnums and ran circles around the remaining Covies and Albion Humans, gunning them down while their fire could not match my speed...

I dropped three more grunts while the last one fled in terror, squealing "Demon to powerful, run away! Run away!" before I shot his methane tank on his back, making him fly into the roof before exploding in a light blue mist.

I rolled a frag grenade under the shields of a Jackal, which upon detonation killed the remaining Jackals. It was then just me and the four remaining Brutes and the leader of the Albion Humans...

One of the Brutes made the mistake of taunting me, he laughed and said "Do you take comfort in knowing the death of your friend will feed our hungry bellies? Her flesh is warm and soft, easy to swallow!" he laughed again but didn't finish. "GAK!" he squirmed with my hands around his neck... I'd never strangled a Brute before... so this was a first for me too! Once I'd squeezed the life out of him, I went a bit over kill, punching his dead face in, caving in the skull. I struck again, this time taking the body's head clean off. I noticed the hesitation of the remaining Brutes...

"You want me to rip you to shreds like him!?" I hissed and drew Derflinger for the first time in a long while... "I'd be happy to oblige...!" I charged and took the head off another Brute and ran through the last one... the leader Brakanus jumped back as I tried to slay him... I took another swing but he was faster than he looked, kicking my helmet off and knocking me on my back in a counter attack. I rolled to the side and to my feet to avoid being stomped on. I swiped at his feet but he just slightly hopped over the low swinging blade before trying to kick me back down. He failed and I jumped back, ready to strike back.

"Hey, Demon!" shouted the Human "Say goodbye to your princess!" he aimed the Mace at Henrietta who was still laying in shock at what was happening...

"Shiiiit!" I yelled and dove in front of Henrietta, closing my eyes and holding my hands out in front of me... ready to be immolated... but the heat never came... in fact... it felt colder...

"A-Alex!?" exclaimed Henrietta... I dared to open my eyes. I gasped at what I was doing... in fact... I don't think anyone expected what I saw... blocking the jet of fire was a shield of water, like a water fall, just... materialized in front of me...

"What... the?" I muttered

"I thought you couldn't cast magic!" she exclaimed...

"I couldn't... unless..." I thought about when I'd been injured... "We will talk about it later... for now I want to try something... I kicked the Human down after he exhausted his flames... then turned to the Brute... I held out my hand and focused all my willpower on one location on his body... if this worked I would be mind-blown... I cupped my hand into a _C _and envisioned him dangling in the air... I started to hear muffled choking sounds... I opened my eyes and smirked as the Brute was held mid-air... clawing at his neck for air as I choked the life out of him... with magic...

Then just to rub it in even more... "You were not prepared..." I said and finished him off by fully closing my hand, crushing his windpipe... I turned around to face Henrietta, and helped her up.

"What was that?" she asked

I knew what happened, and I would not lose my sense of humor over it either... "I'll tell you what happened! I fucking became Darth Vader! That's what happened!" I cheered.

"Huh?"

I heard the clanking of a mace on the ground... "I'm not quite finished yet" said the Albion human, who's name I still didn't know... with my adrenaline out, he caught me off guard and blasted me back, but before the fire could breach my shields another blue fire cut him off...

"Step away from my students and her Highness!" shouted Colbert, who had made his way down from the balcony.

"You!" said the Human "I know you! You are the one I've been searching for!"

"huh?" asked Anies who joined next to him.

"This guy, this guy's the Flame Snake! He's the captain of my old strike team! At last I've found you!"

"Strike team? Flame Snake? What the hell are you-" a realization hit Anies "No... no, no, no, no, no..." she stuttered...

"This guy, he was the most merciless of them all be it men, women of children he burnt them all! And at last, captain sir! My level of flame has surpassed that of your own! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

"You are like you always were before... cocky..." and Colbert waved his staff at the old student and immolated him with a scream... which then turned to laughter... as the flame was absorbed by the Albion agent.

Something inside Anies snapped as she backed away from Colbert... and to my surprise... drew her sword from her ODST belt and swung at Colbert. "I'll kill you! You bastard!" she screamed

"Anies! Back down!" I yelled "That's an order!"

"NO!"

"Back off commoner! This doesn't concern you!" said the Agent and threw the absorbed fire at Anies...

"No!" shouted Colbert and shoved Anies out of the way, taking the blast himself... screaming in pain as the flame engulfed him...

"Hahahahah!" laughed the Agent "How does it feel to be burnt to death, Flame Snake?" The Anies seemed to notice something on Colbert's back... due to his charred and scarred clothing after the fire...

"Now... goodbye... old captain..." said the Agent and raised his mace, ready to deliver the final blow... not on my watch... I aimed my Magnum at his head... but before I could get a shot off, a whisk of black and silver, and a blade was driven right through the torso of the Agent... courtesy of Anies... the Agent fell dead against her as she pulled the sword out and dropped the body...

Anies walked back to Colbert, her sword hanging at her side...

"Are you alright?" he asked, and in getting no response looked up to see her standing there. "Good" he muttered... then collapsed forward...

"Why did you save me?" asked Anies "on the day my hometown burned..."

"Because... I realized.. I had made a grave mistake..."

I took the Queen outside while the others ran down to tend to Colbert... we stepped outside to the far right of the courtyard... out of view of the other Marines who had been standing guard...

"Ma'am" I said "You are lucky to be alive now... but... don't worry, I'm sure that the UNSC can help re-build what was lost... sadly... people can never be replaced" I finished solemnly...

I didn't get a reply from the purpled haired and garbed queen who avoided my gaze...

"What's wrong?" I asked

"You used magic..." she said

"I think... I think it had something to do with the blood you gave me... the magic energies that resided within your bloodstream must have transferred over after the filtering process... I guess the blood filter didn't pick up on it... and now I can use magic as well..."

"It makes sense I guess... but..." Henrietta started to cry... "I was... I was... so scared..." she sobbed... "I could have made a decision and saved the others... but... but..." she cried

"Don't fret Milady, they will be mourned but your determination is what will lead Tristain to victory against Albion... and with UNSC support, I'm sure you will emerge nothing but victorious!" I cheered

"T-thank you..." there was an awkward silence for a while... "Alex... I... I wish to see your face..."

I raised an eyebrow at the request, but took my helmet off and showed my face to her.

"You looked so... different when you fought those Brutes..." she said "Like another person... older, angrier... like an enraged bear... but now... with you looking at me now... you look so calm... and... sweet..."

"Well" I replied "I don't like people hurting my friends of course... so naturally."

I was caught off guard as Henrietta, despite her shorter height managed to reach up and kiss me. "T-thank you..." she stuttered and headed off in a general direction away from me...

I shook my head in confusion before heading to the other Marines who stood guard...

"Sir!" shouted one of the Marines. "Reinforcements arrived, I sent them inside"

"Good man" I said "How many?"

"Five sir!"

"Only companies?" I asked

"No sir, just five... five men..."

"WHAT!? You gotta be fucking kidding me, I thought we were getting a whole division!" I exclaimed before storming back into the main hallway... and I don't know what I was more in shock of... the body of Colbert being taken away while the students cried for him... or the ones carrying the body... five super soldiers I once knew very well... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

The largest man in orangeish armor with a heavy Reach accent spoke. "It's been a while eh Six? Glad to be back..." he said

"Yeah, it's been a while..." chuckled the one in blue armor with a commanding voice "But like I said on day one... now I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength..."

The others nodded...

"Jorge, Kat, Carter, Emile, Jun... you guys... your all here..." I gasped...

"The rest of the UNSC forces will be here in time Six" said Kat "They were just loading them up and finalizing preparations when we left... they'll be bringing in the UNSC Reclaimer, an _Infinity-_Class dreadnought and research vessle"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Alas, I'm too tired to make a witty outro comment... D:**

**Since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys :D**

**-Rogue**


	22. Just chillin'

**I'm skipping Episode 10 since the events of that episode would unfold nearly exactly the same as in the anime, minus the who Louise and Saito thing that happened after the crash...**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"_Alexander, I have to admit, in the past I had committed a terrible sin... to make up for it I had devoted the remainder of my life the research and teaching... but... now I know, there is no way to make up for what I did, and the sorrow of the events that day are knowing at me once again... Alex... When you go to your world, please take me with you, but... also... I know you're a soldier... killing is in your nature... but... please... don't make people's deaths a habit... don't make killing a habit... you've taught me many things over the months I've known you... and taught me that killing... can never be fully justified, but... one can to an extent... please... promise me you will only kill another human if the their death will save others. Make the right choices; don't kill someone unless it will mean something in the end, preferably something better for everyone."_

_**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**_

* * *

The words of the old professor still rung in my ears, even after a mission to a small town for a strike ops... even after crash landing the FA38... even after meeting and saving my own enemies! This ghostly voice of Mr. Colbert sounded off in my head... I couldn't get it out...

But despite everything that had happened... I was glad... Noble Team was back, I had my friends again, well... my old ones anyways... this however didn't interfere with my _duties _as a familiar... sure I hung out with them at mess hall and we took a mission or two together but for the most part, they were just another cog in the machine. In reality when I wasn't with them, I rarely bothered with them, as cold as that may sound; I had other worries on my mind...

However relaxation was actually at the top of my mind right now... as Noble Team followed me through the streets of South Gotha... who in turn, was following Louise...

"Hey what's with all the commotion?" I asked

"It's the Silver Pentecost" replied Louise. "It is the end of the year after all!"

"Oh... so..." started Kat "The Silver Pentecost which you speak of is the New Years Day of your world?"

"Basically..." Louise replied, before looking around and scoffing under her breath... "Still... this is a time of war..." she eyed a few of the civilians "Don't the citizens of South Gotha have any pride at all!? I mean they even welcomed their enemies!"

"Miss um..." started Carter "What is it... Louise? That how you say it?"

Louise nodded.

"Well then Miss Louise, there is a distinct line between Conqueror and Liberator. Ravagers and Saviors. Barbarians and Knights... we came, we saw, we liberated, in vise to the old saying Veni, Vidi, Vici. We came and threw out the oppressors, who not only did a horrible job at defending them so much as they retreated without a fight, but they also took all the town's food... whereas we entered without so much as spilling a drop of blood, and are sharing our food with them... if it's the honorable mention that worries you... maybe you should be looking down Albion's retreat path." Said Carter "So isn't it common sense that they'd welcome us with open arms?"

Louise scoffed again "Where the hell'd you get that idea!?" she yelped, to which Carter raised an eyebrow.

"He's just making a valid observation... and a good point I might add..." I explained

"Huh! Commoners think the commoner's way I guess!" she shot

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" I retorted "Oh, riiiiight... We're from a different world then you noble snots... we'd prefer this celebration to war right!?"

"ALRIGHT!" she yelled "Then why don't you and your ol' buddies go and have fun on your own! I'll be going to the princess alone!"

"W-wait! Louise! Shit..." I said and didn't bother running after her... I felt Jun tap me on the shoulder.

"Is it always like this?" he asked

"More often then you know..." I replied...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"This is magical, fire based damage Six." Said Kat, her head inside the engine compartment of the FA38 "This is gonna take some time to fix... plus we're talking about early 21st century technology here Six, stuff none of us have seen in over 400 years... not exactly my forte..." she explained.

"How long you think?" I asked

"Be ready tomorrow at latest..." she paused "You're in my light commander."

I rolled my eyes and went over to Carter and Jorge who were loading more ammunition into the gun's ammo chambers.

"You know Six" said Jorge, who wasn't even breaking a sweat from the at least 200 kilograms of ammunition he was carrying. "I think this is the first time I've actually ever seen your face. Not what I was expecting"

"and what the hell's the supposed to mean?" I inquired

"Nothing, I just pictured you to be more... generic..."

"Thanks..." I sighed...

Everyone in Noble team had their helmets off... except for Emile, as usual... the guy took his helmet off even less than me, which made it almost never... well... back on Reach anyways...

I climbed into the cockpit and turned on the dashboard lights... fuel was alright for now, ammo was back at 80% and the red outline of the rear left thrusters changed to orange... progress was being made at least... I glanced to the left of the plane so see Louise getting lifted up onto a white dragon with a red and blue face guard... Julio's dragon... and then I saw Julio himself...

"Hey!" I yelled and jumped off the plane and ran over to them. "Where do you think you're going?" I crossed my arms like a mad father.

"Isn't it obvious, we're going on a date!" exclaimed Julio

"Wha-what!?" I nearly choked

"He's joking Alex! I'm on a mission!" corrected Louise

"A mission?"

"Yeah, now I don't want to bring along a familiar who complains about his job every chance he gets! You yourself said this wasn't your war to begin with! Now goodbye!" she said as Julio took of... I felt like yelling at her, and scolding her further... the damned brat was just another hypocrite... as proven by what she had said the other day. _"Pride and Honor, to us nobles it is our life... no matter the danger of the next mission, please, give it to me" _which was funny since just before when we had rescued Henry Stratford of the Albion Air Knights, she convinced him to live on and go back and marry his girlfriend... like I said... hypocrite... you have no idea how hard I slapped her after that before storming out of the room...

When I returned to the plane, I noticed Carter giving me a look of sympathy... they all looked just like they had when I was back on reach, maybe a little less battle worn due to being freshly cloned... but they all looked the same age, as opposed to me... mind you, Jun was still Jun the original, and the oldest of everyone here... he still looked like he hadn't aged though... those five years seemed to have been nice on him. "Hey, Six, why don't you go into town and get a drink, we'll finish up the plane here. Jun, why don't you go with him?"

"Sure thing" said Jun, glad to get out of the sun... he leapt off the wing of the plane and replaced his Sniper on his back. It was awkward seeing me and him next to each other, since we both had very similar armor configurations... or at least helmets...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Six, don't tell me you have feelings for that midget?" Asked Jun as we walked through the streets of South Gotha."

"!... No! Of course not!" I exclaimed "I've said it over a hundred times already! I have not, nor do I nor ever will I have _those _kinds of feelings for Louise the Brat!" I paused "However I _do _think of her as a bit of a sister, that being said, I've become highly protective of her..."

Jun nodded "I see" he said with half enthusiasm, which meant he didn't understand... not surprisingly since he was the only one who was not cloned, hence had all the attributes of an unaltered Spartan.

"Damn that Louise, why doesn't she understand it! Why can't she just see it from y point of view!?" I asked aloud...

"Oh!" I heard a loud gasp and looked up from my feet, into the face of a short black haired girl with dark eyes and wearing simple clothing, carrying what I assumed were groceries of some sort judging from the stick of bread that stuck out of the brown paper bag. "Mr. Alexander!"

"I know that voice anywhere..." I muttered "Siesta! What are you doing here!?"

"Alex!" she ran at me and hugged me, catching me by surprise...

I could hear Jun chuckle softly "I see you've become quite the popular one with the women here?"

"Shut up Jun..." I spat before gently pushing Siesta away.

"Well" started Siesta "Since the curriculum in the academy has been suspended and my uncle has business over here, I asked him to bring me over!" she explained.

"Your uncle huh?" I asked

"Um... Six, don't look now" said Jun "But I think I see a trans-sexual maniac heading this way..."

"Don't tell me..."

"Aleexandeeeer!" I heard before rolling out of the way letting Scarron the owner of the Fairy Tavern slam into a wall behind me at top speeds... he turned around like nothing happened... which worried me even more... I turned to Siesta...

"Don't tell me you uncle is..."

"Yes..." finished Siesta

"Eh?" mumbled Scarron, before glaring at me "Who's this uncle you're talking about eh?"

"Oh you fucking know who I'm talking about, why not I deliver a kick the crotch and I'll prove it!" I shot, which got him off the subject pretty quickly... however I didn't know if I liked the next one so much...

"So Siesta and Alex are friends yes?"

"You could say that, from the magic academy, yes." I confirmed.

"The magic academy..." Scarron pondered "EH! That means that the boy in Albion that Siesta was looking for is... even though right now it's a bit of a one-sided love... the boy she's willing to fight for is... Alexander yes!?" Scarron said, while glancing back and forth between myself and Siesta...

"Wait-what!?" I exclaimed and noticed Siesta refusing to look back at me... Jun just stayed silent... probably a good decision on his part...

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Wailed Scarron as he slapped he across the back of my head several times.

"Oww" I muttered

"Alexander, you sure are something, you already have Louise and yet you want to... Two. Time? A bit of a love-triangle relationship it seems is going on."

"No nothing of the sort! I have said time after time, I don't like Louise like that!" I yelled "Why can't anyone get that through their fucking skull! Even Louise herself it to stubborn to understand!"

"Speaking of which, where is Miss Valliére?" asked Siesta

"She's... busy..." I sighed...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Yes, yes, cheers and what not!" I said after raising my bottle along with Jessica, Scarron, Siesta and Jun. I took a sip from the bottle with my cheek on my palm, elbow on the table...

We all sat in a large tent or pavilion which had been set up as a portable tavern for the townsfolk...

"Well, isn't that a shocker?" said Jessica, "You're the guy who Siesta fell for?"

I sat up straight. "I... guess..." I shrugged...

"Even though it may let Louise down to hear it, I have to help my cousin on this one."

"Your cousin?" I asked, to which Jessica nodded. "I should have guessed... I mean... they look kinda similar..." and that was one of the things I liked about Jessica and Siesta, they really didn't care what I said for the most part, as long as it was somewhat positive and about them, or somewhat negative about someone they didn't like... or a neutrally based comment and/or opinion...

Oddly enough Jessica smirked at the comment while Siesta blushed, and then Scarron had to go an ruin the joke by adding "But of course everyone in my family has huge breasts! See look at mine!"

"Um, I'll pass..." I replied... taking another swig from my bottle...

Then the flap to the tent opened and Carter, Kat and Jorge came in, I didn't see Emile however...

"Emile is guarding the plane, he said he wasn't thirsty anyways... but honestly I think its cuz he doesn't want to take his helmet off around us..." said Carter, who had his helmet at his side, just like the others.

I slapped a few coins on the table "Mind giving them a round?" I said, to which Scarron signaled a few of his workers to carry out a few drinks for the rest of Noble Team.

Carter took a drink from his beer "Ahh, been a while since I've had a good one..." he commented...

"Weird place though..." added Kat "Seriously, what's with those outfits, and what's that guy's problem?" she pointed at Scarron.

"Don't ask" I answered, saving her from an earful from Scarron, and Scarron, likewise, from a bloody nose... "Trust me, I had to get used to allot of crazy shit when I first got here, if I can adjust within a week, surely you guys will have no problem considering we're all here now... me? I only had myself to work with!"

"Don't forget about me!" added Cortana

"Oh right and her..." I corrected myself.

I finished off my drink then sighed as the tent flap was lifted again...

"Alexander!" said a voice I hadn't heard from in a long time, the voice belonging to a blonde prissy boy I knew to some extent...

"Guiche!" I exclaimed "Wow... I..." he started to cut me off.

"What's up? Oh this?" he lifted a small metal star off his shirt, some sort of military medal. "This is the Medal of Honor from the Government Ordinance. (Whatever that was). Although it wasn't much of a big deal, I certainly did achieve an honor for them!" Guiche puffed his chest out "General Porche personally put this on for me. As nobility there aren't many honorable moments like this. Hahahahaha..."

"Yeah, I don't care about your stupid medal... I'm just amazed your still alive! I mean... considering it's you who went to war, I would have given you a medal just for surviving the first hour!" I said, putting emphasis on the final blow of my reply.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

I walked into my hotel room and called out "Alexander! I'm back!" there was no reply... "Humph... some familiar, doesn't even greet his master when she gets home..." I scoffed... I walked over to where Derflinger leaned against the wall. "Hey!" I said and kicked his sheath.

"What's up!" chirped Derf as he popped out of the sheath.

"Where's Alex?" I asked

"I thought he was with you?" he replied

I rolled my eyes and sat down on my bed before sighing long and deep...

"I take it you've been giving partner the cold-shoulder again, or something similar... right? then in the end my good ol' partner just went off somewhere on his own."

"W-what! No! No I didn't give him any cold-shoulder or of the sort!"

"Bingo! Right on the nosey!" cheered Derf.

"What's his problem anyways!?" I demanded "Instead of arguing with me about everything, he should just listen to my orders! But... he..."

"Maybe he's smart? Maybe he's got a mind of his own? Maybe he cares greatly for you and wishes to protect you? And, not necessarily in that way, but... maybe he loves you?"

The sun shining past my shoulders from the outside sunset through the window glared off the shinny floorboards as I contemplated what Derf had just said... "No, this has nothing to do with that! ...right?" I asked.

"Are you sure? Maybe Partner knows something you don't? Or he really does care! He gave up returning home just to be in this war with you... either this guys knows something, or he really cares about you... that or he's just plain stupid, I mean c'mon! A life with you!? HAAHAAaaa..."

*KA-PEW*

The window of my room got blown out... leaving Derf in a coughing fit... "Scary" he muttered...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Meanwhile... **

**Scorch's POV**

"So, where is Louise anyways?" Guiche asked as Siesta, Jessica, Scarron, himself and I sat around a brown oval table, more drinks in hand. "Aren't you usually with her?"

Jessica and Scarron leaned towards me... I don't know what their problem was as I casually took a sip from my drink, which I had swapped from beer to cold black tea, since I'd already had a few ales and didn't trust myself having anymore...

"Well, not today" I replied...

"Aww, what a shame, I wanted to show her my Medal of Honor." Bragged Guiche as he polished his Medal with a white handkerchief from probably the seventh time today.

"That medal means shit dude!" I shot at him, getting fed up with his attitude.

"What! How dare you insult a noble's honor!" he retorted, catching Noble Team's attention.

"You wanna go through the same greetings when we first met, or would you rather have me explain first?" I said as I pulled out and cleaned my combat knife.

"Erg!" he squealed "Um, maybe the latter will suffice."

I looked him right in the eye. "War is war Guiche, for most people, back in my world, you joined the army, not because you wanted honor, but because you believed your home was worth protecting, worth fighting for, and if need be, it was worth dying for..."

Everyone stayed silent...

"Your fighting to protect Tristain right?" I asked and Guiche nodded "Right! Then this shouldn't be about medals or honor... those things don't matter when you're fighting for your life! This is about winning the war, and if fighting with the UNSC has taught me anything, you win a war, by surviving it... and that means killing the Covies, before they kill me, or in your case Albionians or whatever they're called... and trust me on this one, I know this topic well..."

"Well put Six!" cheered Carter "A shame none of us held up to that by a hundred percent... well, 'cept Jun here maybe but..."

"Well... whether it's about the medal or not, would it hurt to bring Louise down here?" asked Jessica

"Erm..." I stuttered and glanced at Siesta. Wasn't Jessica supposed to be allegedly helping Siesta? Not cockblocking her by bringing what everyone perceived as her ultimate opponent?

Then conveniently enough Louise walked right in... along with Julio... like I said... convenient...

Once they both had sat down and greeted us, Guiche launched right into another story...

"Oh a Fairy you say? Was it as cute as me!?" wailed Scarron... I really wanted to shoot that guy where the sun don't shine if you catch my meaning... at least that way he'd be half right... one way or the other.

"No! It was a _Real _fairy!" Guiche protested.

"A... fairy...?" Julio asked and yawned "Riiiight..."

"I really saw it! I'm serious!" exclaimed Guiche "It was when the army from Losailes encountered the enemy. We'd set up camp in the mountains, a whole company at least, 100 or so men... when I woke up that morning, I found I was surrounded by enemy soldiers. It must have been an ambush... I must have been killed, I am positive I suffered a fatal blow... but not long after, I woke up again, my body wasn't injured at all!" Guiche stood up in his chair "Thank you Missis Fairy!"

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" asked Jorge, highly skeptical.

"Or hallucinating?" added Carter.

"People with too much time on the battlefield can leave one person... not well in the head... are you suffering from post-traumatic-shock syndrome or something?" asked Carter.

"It's also quite common for a human on the verge of death to have illusions of such things" added Julio.

"That too." Said Carter

"No! It wasn't a dream, I'm not crazy and I wasn't hallucinating!" Guiche demanded.

"Anyways, it's a good thing you lived" said Siesta, stalling the erupting argument/fight that would have broken out... "On the battle ground, it's a frightening place to die, what with being on foreign soil and all..."

Guiche was silent for a while, before standing up straight and proud, flipping his hair back like an emo-chap. "No, no, I'm a noble! I'm not afraid of death! If I were to die for my reputation, I'd be happy to die at anytime!" he put two fingers to his forehead and sighed "But since any path could lead to death, I'd wish to honor my country more and get another medal before dying!" he started laughing... which stopped abruptly as I slammed my fist on the table, breaking a bit off in the process...

"You're hopeless!" I yelled "Didn't I just tell you about the whole, don't die for honor, die for the sake of protecting your country! As far as I can tell from the reports, YES! I've seen them... from what I can tell you were the luck one of the nine men who survived the attack on your company right? You should treasure your fucking life more! Talking about dying for reputation, that's not honorable, that plain stupid! Only idiots think that way!" I shot.

"Alex!" Louise exclaimed who I had almost forgotten about... almost... Damnit... "Apologize to Guiche now!"

"No" I blatantly stated. "But just to humor you and Guiche, why should I?"

"Because, you don't understand anything around these parts! Reputation and honor are more important to the nobility than their lives! How many times must I repeat this!?" Louise wailed

"No, your the one who doesn't understand a thing! For the sake of a medal, or title, or simply fame of some sort! Everything is gone when you die! And what for!? What is a medal, fame or money at the end of the day? Huh!? Pieces of metal, paper and naught but thin air! Fame, money, power, prestige, honor, these things are expendable when it come to your life! When in a battle, it should be always about you and the guys next to you! It's your job to make sure you and your friends make it out of that conflict alive and intact if not simply worse for wear!"

"I don't want any medals, I don't want any money, I don't even want the fame..." said Louise... "Hell, I don't even want the recognition. I want what you're talking about... what's most important to me, is my loyalty to the Princess... I want to make sure she gets out of here alive... I would gladly die in her place!"

I was silent for a while... then I nodded "Very well... I can, at the very least, not complain about that kind of loyalty..." then I left the _bar _if you could even call it that... no one followed me thankfully... I didn't want to talk to anyone right now...

I walked down one of the streets of South Gotha... it was snowing and I could slightly hear the _*Crunch, crunch, crunch* _of the fallen snow beneath my boots... my armor was thermal heated (or Air conditioned in opposite conditions) so I could stay warm, or cool down. I looked up at the sky, the snowflakes hitting my visor and making a crystallized snowflake field on my face. It was actually pretty cool to look at...

Then I heard _crunching _at a faster pace from behind me... "Alex!" called Siesta as she hugged me from behind... "Are you angry at me?" she asked

"Why would I be angry with you?" I asked

"For following you all the way to Albion and giving you trouble?"

"No of course not Siesta, but I am a little disappointed you'd risk everything just to see me... but I'm also impressed..." I shrugged... "but why are you out here? It's cold, you should head inside..."

The Siesta fell to her knees, which was a little overkill in my opinion, and didn't make sense with her next comment. "Y-yeah... It-It's c-c-c-cold... I'm F-f-f-freezing already!" she whined.

"Oh geez..." I sighed...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

I'd taken Siesta to the Inn me and Noble Team were staying at, along with the UNSC force stationed here... which by now, wasn't that much...

I sat in my room with Siesta next to me on my bed, I wore my fatigues just so she didn't have to press against the uncomfortable metal... and the fireplace was lit as well...

"There, are you better now? Warm enough for you?" I asked

"Yes... It's hot now..." Said Siesta, who then paused for a moment "I lied... I wasn't cold at all... I just wanted you to hug me tightly..."

I raised an eyebrow... "Siesta?"

"I love you!" she exclaimed and kissed me... this was probably the most I've been kissed by girls in the last... well... forever... 5 or so different girls all in under one year... I don't know if that's a good thing or not!

We held the kiss for some time until...

*Ka-boom!*

"Aw you gotta be fucking kidding me!" exclaimed Siesta.

I looked outside... "Shit... shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I said "this is bad! Real bad!" I put on my armor and got out my assault rifle... "Siesta, go find Scarron and the others and wait for instructions!"

"R-right!" stammered Siesta. "But... but before you go, take this..." Siesta took my hand and pressed a small purple vial into my hand. "It's a sleeping potion. If Miss Valliére wants you to do anything dangerous, get her to drink this and then run away once she falls asleep!"

I shrugged, doubted I would need it, but it might come in handy later... "Thanks" I said

"Girls and men of noble status take life and death for granted... but I can't bear it if you're involved in it!"

Then I heard it...

"ALEX!"

"That's Louise's voice!" I then heard sounds of battle; swords clashing and guns being fired... "Shit! I gotta go!"

I ran outside and loaded my rifle... I had a feeling this war was nearing its end... and it was going to start ending tonight...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I didn't want to put the season finale and the season finale prelude into the same chapter... that being said, this chapter and the next are going to be shorter than usual, to make up for it I will try to make the next chapter after the season end longer and I might post the next chapter on a Monday rather than Tuesday or Wednesday.**

**Also really sorry that this chapter was mainly dialogue I'll try to change that up in the future, but sometimes there just isn't enough space (as in the scenery isn't all the interesting, or there really isn't much action going on) to put that sorta stuff in...**

**Since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys :D**

**-Rogue**


	23. MAC-Round to the face!

**Final chapter in season 2! Brace for impact! Shit will hit the fan... again!**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Alex!" I heard from outside, I barrelled through the front doors of the inn that UNSC personnel were staying in and ran down the streets of South Gotha... I heard swords clanging and clashing in the distance, the sounds of battle and smell of smoke... I turned down an ally as a short cut towards the central square when I nearly ran into one of the Tristain soldiers in their burgundy plated armor... I then noticed the girl at his feet who he was about to run through... I wasted no time in breaking the soldier's neck and caving his skull in after forcing it into the cobblestone road... just to make sure he was extra dead.

"Louise, what's going on?" I asked as I helped her up.

"Alex!" she exclaimed and hugged me "I don't know..." she admitted.

I pushed past her, holding her behind me as I peered out from the ally into the central square of South Gotha... there was a sea of fire and burgundy as Tristain soldiers fought amongst each other... however the numbers of psycho soldiers quickly outnumbered the loyalist soldiers who either were slain or forced to retreat... I figured it be best if Louise and I did the same... especially after what I heard next...

I looked up to see hundreds of Dragon Riders flying across the sky towards the town hall...

"Listen!" said Louise as the screeching of dragons died down... in the distance we could hear the beating of drums, the clanking of armored boots marching... it must have been easily a few hundered thousand... "Albion's Army..."

I looked back at Louise, right in the eye. "We are leaving... now!"

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Henrietta's POV**

"Your majesty!" said head priest Madollaen **(A/N: Or whatever the fuck his name is I couldn't find it for the life of me, and I'm too lazy to re-watch the Anime right now...) **"We must get you to safety! Please, take the next ship out for Tristain!"

We had retreated back to the Port town of Losailies, Albion's army of an estimated seven million was approaching... seven... million... I was under the impression that they were low on recourses, men and morale... where the hell did they get all that support!? **(A/N: Seriously, did they even bother to mention where all those men came from in the anime? The manga eve? Seriously... plot hole...)**

"I can't leave until the safety of my people is assured, I will take the final ship to Tristain. As the Queen, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of my people..." I protested.

I looked out the window of our makeshift command center, which was really the shipping and receiving building for the merchant ships. We'd chosen it due to it's location near the docks... anyways, I looked out the window and I could see mobs of people trying to board any docked ships bound out of Albion... so many people were willing to abandon their homes... not only did it sicken me, it also confused the hell out of me... Albion's army was here for us, Tristain... not the locals... if we left then the army would have no reason to attack the Port... and if they realised this, that would mean we could get going sooner... I'm not even kidding when I ask; how did we get as far as we did in this war with this kind of logic and reasoning? I heard a burst of gunshots and bullets flew into the air... I could make out a blonde UNSC officer who was yelling loud enough for even us in the command center to hear.

"A'right yanks back it up! Back it up! I want three orderly lines, one for each ship... you'll all get out of here, so don't make our job harder than it's gotta be and we can get outta here faster!" he ordered

I sighed "Well look at it this way, we'll have packed up and be home before Albion's forces even get here..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I held my hands out to stop Louise... we stood in front of a large shipping warehouse near the docks "Being the bait? Being the bait!? What the hell Louise!?"

"Being the bait means to distract the enemy while the others make their escape" said Derf

"No shit Sherlock Holmes!" I shot, then turned back to Louise "Why Louise? Why? Was this an order from the Princess?! I swear if it was then I will go POSTAL on her ass!" I clenched my fists and frowned behind my helmet...

"This wasn't an order... she doesn't even know about it..."

"huh?"

"Head Priest Mado... Madei... Ma- ah hell with it... The head Priest came to me and asked me, since Henrietta is over watching the evacuation, and won't leave until the people are safe..."

"This wasn't an order and you still accepted it!? Are you mad!? The enemy is seven million strong, who might I add, are on their way here right now! Do you have a death wish or something!" I paused "Actually don't answer that"

"I have Void magic..."

"Void magic!? Big fucking deal, the last few times you've tried to use it you've failed miserably!"

"But I might not this time..."

"And if you do!? You won't be stopping the enemy! You'll be feeding them!"

"No, I'm confident it will work..." she stared at me in the eye "And before you call me stupid for risking this all for honor, I will have you know, this is not for honor... this is for the princess... this is for all the people, even the maids, like the ones from the Fairy Tavern... if I don't they'll all be killed... trust me when I say... I don't want to die... but... I'm a noble... dying for your friends, comrades and family is something to be proud of... and it's something any respectable person would do! You may think me stupid... but is it really stupidity to die in place of thousands of others!?"

A cold breeze picked up from off the _coast _of Albion... I could feel the chill press against the black inner layering of my suit... the part that provides flexibility at the joints...

"Your right... But... although I want to protect everyone too... I don't feel right letting you sacrifice yourself... it just... why... why you of all people!? It's not fair!" I whined "Your creators gave you void magic as a gift... but now it seems to be more of a loan and now it's time to pay it back! Your creators are sick!" I heaved a large sigh, I was being so immature... complaining like a little kid wasn't going to change anything... words wouldn't change anything... no... this was a case of action... and I knew just what I was going to do now...

But before I could act Louise wrapped (or tried to) her arms around me. "You should run Alex... you don't have to die with me..."

I was taken aback... "Louise!" I pushed her away gently "Don't talk like that! Louise!" I shook her out of her stupor...

"Just go... this isn't your world in the first place right? You're not involved with the events here... go home Alex, don't make the worries, concerns and troubles of this world your own, because they aren't... go now..."

Her head was hung... I bent down and picked her head up a little by her chin... "Hey, is that what you really want?"

She started to sob softly "No... I wish to stand by your side till I draw my last breath... but... it would be selfish and disrespectful to ask of such a thing... and I don't want you to die as well... only one of us needs to die..."

I was silent for a while... then I nodded "Your right" I half-heartedly smirked "I won't hold you back any longer..." I put on my best fake smile. "Come, let us at least have a toast, in honor of you... back in my world, if such a thing was going to happen, where one person is about to go on a mission of no return, it's only fair to make their last days memorable, so that's what we will do, since it's the end." I ran over an shuffled through a few crates in the shipping area, pulling out a bottle of what looked like Pinot Noir. I ran back and held up the bottle for Louise to see before pulling the cork out... or... trying to...

"Heeeeeerk!" I groaned as I tried to pull the cork free. "BAH!" I gasped "What the fuck!? Did they super glue this thing in here!?" I examined the bottle hole for any glue or perhaps welding marks...

"Alex..." Said muttered Louise "I have a request then, since it's the end..."

"Yeah? What is it? since it's the end you can ask whatever you wish." I replied

I heard her mutter something under her breath...

"Huh? Speak up I can't hear you..."

"That's why I said..." She jumped up and grabbed my helmeted head, pulling me down to her level. "I wish to get married!"

I sprang back up nearly dropping the bottle of... whatever this was... and almost choked on my own saliva. "W-w-what!?" I exclaimed

"W-well... It's not actually marriage per say...rather it's more like a type of spirit binding... I honestly didn't know how else to put it... I guess you could say it's a spirit marriage or something..."

"W-what..." I muttered still recoiling from the shock...

"In order to prove I've lived! I have to get married, or something similar, at least once as proof that I've lived!"

"Isn't that what personal records are for?" I asked

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

We headed into the center of the port town. People were packing up left and right, evicting themselves from their homes and shops like a Brute had just farted (And trust me, they fuckin' stink). Louise led me to a small stall where the shopkeep was just about to finish packing his stuff up...

"Excuse me" she said and pointed to a small flower in a bottle "How much is this?"

"Take it, it's free, I just want to get out of here!" said the Shopkeep

She picked up two flowers, one was blue, the other pink. "Thank you!" called Louise as the shopkeep pulled his cart of wares away towards the docks.

I took one of the flowers from Louise and held it up to my face to examine it "Interesting plant... what is it?" I asked, not recognizing it as any flora I knew.

"It's an Ekulerudamuru flower" replied Louise, lightly shaking her pink flower bottle.

"an Eklu... Ekyou... Ekleru... Ekuda... Ek... you know what; fuck this name!" I steamed

It was getting late and the sun was starting to go down, I followed Louise to a church on the outskirts of the town... once we'd entered, we found the place was practically abandoned... sure it had seen recent use, but due to the looming threat of Albion's forces, most people had evacuated the town and no one was here, not even a priest. Louise stepped up to the altar at the head of the room and knelt down to pray... me on the other hand... I got to work on hatching my plan... I slid to the side of the church, to where a simple piano was pressed against the wall... since there were not tables to use, this would have to do... I drew Louise's drink, then mine... of... whatever this was... (I still think it's Pinot Noir...) which by the way, I finally managed to open! I then retrieved the tiny sleeping potion out from my inventory and popped the cap off, pouring it into Louise's drink.

I turned around to look back at her... "Louise! Grog's ready..." I joked, to which she raised an eyebrow and I just brushed it off...

She stood up and approached me, picking up her drink (I double checked to make sure she got the right one) and standing next to me. We both stood in front of a pained stained glass pane, typical of most churches, even back in my world...

*clink*

"Cheers" said Louise, to whom I nodded with a reply of: "Down the hatch"

We both drank our drinks... (Drank our drinks, drank our drinks, drank our drinks... come on say it with me! It's fun to say!) And held the empty glasses once we were done with them.

"So..." I started "how does this spirit binding go anyways?" I asked

"Well... sorta like any marriage ceremony I guess..."

"I thought you said this wasn't marriage..." I said, to which Louise absently looked away from me... not meeting my eyes... I sighed and then shrugged "Whatever..." then a thought occurred to me "Oh don't tell me we have to kiss..." I regretted saying that.

*bing*

"Oooohhhhwww!" I grunted an octave higher than usual before falling on my rear...

"You don't even know shame at the end it seems! A dog till the end!" accused Louise

"I didn't even say anything perverted! It was a question! A simple question!" I retorted.

She held out her hand "Holding hands will do, and making a vow..."

I rolled my eyes, but then stood up by myself and removed my helmet, putting it on the piano... I still found it unnerving that I stood nearly two feet taller than Louise, I knew the age difference of three years was there, but still... (Remember, I told you at the beginning that the cloning process stuck me at age 18...) I took her hand once I was up and helmet was off. We both faced the window pane... I felt a cheesy heartfelt moment coming up...

"Louise... I love you." I said "but not like that!" I quickly added before continuing my part. "In a sense I am glad that I found met you... you gave me purpose..." she looked like she didn't understand what I meant so I explained "I've thought about how things would be if I had survived the war and re-entered civilian life... or... more like entered it... I was... I am a soldier... I know nothing else... Humanity no longer needs protecting back home... so my purpose was done, I've been used... but now... I have a reason to keep fighting... and that reason is You, Siesta, Henrietta, Guiche, Jessica, Kirche, Colbert..." I paused at saying his name "Tabitha, and all the others... but..." I looked back at her, she seemed partially heartbroken "But none of this could have happened without you, and as far as I'm concerned, your my number one care, I'll always protect you and look out for you. I might not always be around, I might get on your case, or vise-versa, but know that when you call, I'll come running... anyone who dares mess with you will end up dealing with me, and I'll be sure to become their worst nightmare..." I looked back at her as she was smiling again.

This time it was Louise's turn to speak...

"Alex, I am glad that I met you as well... at first I thought I was unlucky to have summoned a familiar such as you, I thought it was a disaster... but you have proven time and again your loyalty, courage, power and friendship... something I at first thought you as incapable of... but you've shown me much since then... I love you too Alex... but... whether I love you as a friend, cousin, brother or... something more... has yet to be determined... I..." she was cut off by a bright light from beside us... we both looked at the center of the piano to see the Eku... Eklu... ok fuck it... to see the fancy spirit flowers beginning to glow! Louise looked back at me. "Thank you for taking care of me through the thick and thin, up and down... no matter the situation you were there... thank you Alex... Your an amazing fam...-" she started to drift off as the sleeping potion began to take effect... she then passed out in my armored arms... I sighed deeply...

"I'm sorry Louise... but like you said... only one of us should die... and I'm not willing to let it be you... one so young shouldn't have to die this early... me... we'll... I've died once... why not do it again?" I muttered to no one in particular... maybe it was to Louise's subconscious... maybe it was to my own self doubt that I was doing the wrong thing... maybe it was to appease some unknown spirits that dwelt within this church... I still don't know who it was too till this day!

With another sigh I heaved Louise's unconscious body over my shoulder, fireman style and walked out the front of the church... there I met a familiar face. (No pun intended).

"Hey, Alexander!" called Julio, who was leaning against the church. He thrust away from the wall onto his feet properly...

"Julio!? What are you doing here?" I asked

"Just acting as a messenger..." he explained "I heard you were going to be the bait, so I came to find you guys."

"To stop us." I accused

"no, on the contrary, I've come to tell you to run..." he walked away from us for a few paces before turning around to face me again. "Her majesty may be important, but I care far more about my beautiful Louise..."

I sighed, I'd started to get used to his hitting on her... honestly I hardly cared anymore... "I see..." I replied "Speaking of which, if that's the case, then consider this excellent timing... here" I walked up to him and let Louise down into his arms "I leave Louise in your care..."

"Sure..." he replied as I put Louise into his arms "Got her."

I turned and started walking back towards the church, or at least the path that lead back to the town.

"What about you?" Julio asked with legitimate concern.

I stoped... "I'll be facing the army of seven million..." I heard Julio _huh_, to which I just chuckled "It'll be just me and them... Mano-eh-Mano times seven million..."

"Let me asked then..." said Julio "Didn't you say it was foolish to die for the sake of reputation and honor?"

"This isn't for honor..." I replied "This is to defend... to defend those I hold dear... Louise, Henrietta, Siesta, the students at the academy, the fairy maids... it is for them that I die... not for honor... I love Louise, and the others... so there..."

"Well... I see... then while we are confessing all this, I must add that I love you too!" replied Julio, I couldn't tell if he was joking or not however...

"It really doesn't please me to hear you say that ya' know?" I sighed and stepped back towards Julio to brush back Louise's pink hair... I then looked back up at Julio... (well... not entirely up since I was still about a foot taller than him) "Who knows... maybe if I'm lucky we will meet again... keep your hopes up for me will ya?" I started to leave, but then remembered something... "oh and when she wakes up... give this to her..." I gave Julio a small flat square... a camera uplink... "She said she wanted to be with me in the end... and this... well... this is the best way I can do it without endangering her..."

Julio nodded and with that I was off...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Henrietta's POV**

"Wait what did you say!? Why would she do this!?" I exclaimed to the Chief Priest, who's name I could care less about right now...

I was on the last ship out of Albion... I started to leave my quarters, which was in place of the captains, just under the deck with the steering wheel on it... the cabin I think it was called...

"Stop the ship! We must get Louise back!" I cried and started to make for the outer deck.

"Your highness!" exclaimed the Priest who grabbed my arms "If you leave now your life will be in danger!"

"I don't care!" I screamed "Even if that's how things go, I can't just abandon Louise like this! Let go of me!" I ripped away from the priest's grip and burst through the door of the cabin... to late... the ship had already started to leave... I wanted to scream, to yell at them to stop the ship... I knew it would be selfish... I knew it would damage my reputation... but... luckily I didn't have to... just ahead of me lay Louise, asleep, with Julio, the Romalian Shinto-Priest kneeling over her...

"Hey, are you up yet sleeping beauty?" he asked as Louise stirred in her sleep, rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Julio what are you doing here?" then something seemed to click in her head "Oh Damnit! I have to go and stall the enemy!" she bolted up and looked around "A ship?"

"Miss Valliére!" I heard and saw a black haired girl I recognized as one of the academy maids speak to Louise "Where is Alexander?"

"Alex?" she asked and looked around a bit worried... it was then she noticed me.

"Louise!" I cried and hugged her "I thought you had gone off to die..."

"No... no I haven't... but..." Louise then paled as she seemed to dear the worst...

"He's not here... Alexander has gone to Albion's army base to fight by himself..." said Julio, confirmed her fears... the Spartan Team, Noble was also on board... they seemed to already be aware of the situation... I heard the leader named Carter, cursing himself for not being able to help his teammate... the rest of the team was groaning and cursing themselves as well...

"Tell... Tell me your joking!" exclaimed Louise

"No, no I'm afraid not... in the time you were sleeping due to a sleeping potion I would presume, Alexander went off by himself..." said Julio

"No, no... that potion!" said the maid "I'd given that to Alex so that he may live on!" she shook for a moment before fainting, her relative sister or cousin catching her as she fell...

"Alex... sacrificing himself... to save me..." Louise seemed to be in shock... she then shook out of her shock and ran to the edge of the ship. "No Alex! I have to help him fight!"

"Louise!" exclaimed a burly man who... really scared me shitless... I'm not even kidding... what with his leotard type shirt and short shorts and pink lips... he grabbed Louise to stop her from doing anything stupid...

"NO! Stop! Let go of me! It's not to late, I want to fight next to Alex! He can't die alone! ALEX!" Louise cried off the edge of the ship... I then noticed she had dropped something... a small silver square on the ground shone brightly polished as I picked it up.

"What's this?" I asked and pressed a button on the top of it... something from inside it blinked to life and I nearly dropped it... a small blue projection of a man appeared... it was a illusion of Alexander... no... a message...

"Louise... Henrietta... Siesta... whoever gets this, it matters not anymore... by now the chances of me being dead are greatly increasing... if I am not already dead that is... should Siesta be getting this... I'm sorry I used your potion for... something other than it's intended use... it was to protect you in the end... and that's what matters... Louise... I care greatly for you, and that is why I'm not going to let you just throw your life away, you don't have to die, live on, do something with your life! Your young! Me? I've had my run one life before... I've died once, I don't mind doing it again! Live on and don't forget me, if... if you want to see my last moments... open this uplink... it will let you look though my helmet's camera... and lastly... Henrietta... I... I don't really know what to say to you... but... now that I'm most likely gone... I won't be around to guide you anymore... the choices of your nation are now up to you and you alone, no one will be providing the advice of the people anymore... you'll be back to corrupt and greedy officials most likely... just... just promise me you won't do anything stupid... ok? *chuckles* I know you have a knack for making stupid and reckless decisions... as lastly... I... don't know how any of you might react to this... but after all that stuff with the magic blood, the friendship, and the forerunners... Henrietta... I think I-" the message cut off... and something blinked in place of the illusion of Alex, two red words that read: Memory exceeded.

We'd all just seen this message, well, except for the Maid; Siesta. I looked at Louise... "Should we open it?" I asked.

Louise took the uplink from me... "Let me" she replied... and hesitantly opened the small case...

Then the black screen that once was in the center of the square flickered to life and the first thing we heard was.

"Oh c'mon! I haven't even broken a sweat yet!" yelled the voice of Alexander... the screen then gained color and picture and we could see hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers all surrounding Alex, with his Assault rifle in one hand and his magic sword Derflinger in the other... he unloaded his rifle into a mob of enemies before cursing and dropping the fire as he bashed It across a mage's face... he hacked and slashed his way through the enemy ranks with amazing speed, a hail of arrows came down on him, all of them bouncing harmlessly off his armor... a group of battlemages lined up to cast their spells at Alex but he noticed them in time and turned, thrusting a hand at them, lightning shooting out from his armored fingertips and electrifying them all to a crisp...

"Oh It's never felt so good to be a sith!"

"You've never been a sith." Replied his AI "hell you weren't even around when those movies first came out!"

"Oh shut up your ruining my fantasy!" replied Alex

"Partner to your right!" shouted Derf.

Alex jumped back as a giant slammed his foot down next to him. He sparked his energy sword to life and chopped the foot off the giant, sending it tumbling into a column of enemy troops...

"If I'm going out! I'm going out swinging!" Alex yelled and blasted back an entire platoon with a huge wave of magic energy.

I heard a _ping _on the floor of the ship... I looked down to see Louise drop one of the sacred Ekulerudamuru flowers.

"Ekulerudamuru" said Julio, as he looked away from the screen "Able to sense the life presence of the other bearer, even if they are a thousand leagues apart... a magic flower..."

"PARTNER! LEFT!" I heard the screen roar and I looked back at the screen to see Alex turn to the left just in time to see a cannon ball hurtle right at his face... there was a loud _bang _which was followed by static and a snowy screen... I looked back at Louise who started to cry... her flower slowly wilted... and faded...

"No! No no no! Alex!" she cried...

I wanted to cry as well... I had a hunch of what he had wanted to say to me, but I kept it to myself...

"Your highness!" I heard the captain shout from his deck... "We have a problem! Looks like Albion doesn't want us returning! One way or another!"

I looked off the front of the ship...

"It's Albion's entire fleet!" shouted a crewman...

Sure enough, at least several thousand battleships blockaded us from our escape, while we ourselves only had maybe twenty ships... not all of them were even battleships!

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit!" cursed Louise, "Now we're all gonna die!"

*ka-boom ka-boom* sounded the enemy cannons, which plowed through several of our ships...most of which had only civilians onboard... six went down in the first few minutes...

"Oh we're screwed!"

*KA-PEEEWWW* a bolt of pure light and energy slashed through fifteen Albion ships, in one clean shot. I then heard buzzing and humming from above and behind... I turned around...

One of the UNSC marines walked up behind me, a Sergeant from the looks of it, the same one I had seen giving orders at the docks... "No way... they made it... Noble Team! Get over here!" the Spartan team jumped up and ran over, looking up in the sky... "They made it!"

*Ka-PLEW!* another blast from the biggest green... thing... I'd ever seen, cut thorough another twenty ships in one shot! The new contact group of three humongous green metal flyers advanced on the Ablon ships, they seemed to be made up of three rectangular attachments, forming the ships into a blocky _Y _shape. I could see smaller ships flying away from the Albion ships... boarding parties from the looks of it...

I saw one of the Spartans press a button on his wrist... from which the largest amount of inaudible noises erupted. Some I was able to hear but very few... most of the words that were spoken I couldn't even understand...

I looked back at the sky... it was filled with smaller flying green things, they fired fully automatic guns mounted onto their wings and shot explosives with deadly accuracy and were actually able to follow their target... I saw one of the small flyers take on several Albion Dragon Knights...

"_I've got one on me!"_ sounded the communications that one of the Spartans had open.

"_I've got him!" _

"_Target the mast!"_

"_Target the weapons!"_

"_Take out those boarding parties!"_

"_MAC round firing... shot!"_

*KA-PLEW!* Twenty more ships down.

"_This is UNSC Reclaimer, calling UNSC Dawstrider, UNSC Dawnbringer and UNSC Dawnguard! We're sending Spartan teams down to battle upon the surface! Spartan Ops is commencing!"_

"_Separatist ship Judgment is standing by... ready to deploy Banshee squadron on your command Reclaimer."_

"_Deploy!"_

A loud screeching nearly shattered my ear drums as squadron upon squadron of Alien fighters screeched across the sky, firing blue bolts of energy which melted through the Albion ships and set them ablaze.

To our luck one of Albion's ships had pulled up next to us... troops looked ready to board us...

"Hold your fire Dawnguard!" said the captain of the Dawnstrider "Those ones with the fleur-de-lies on them, those are allies! Send in a team instead!"

I heard over the blazing battle, the sounds of a Pelican, the only ship I knew the name of which belonged to the UNSC, it backed towards our ship and opened its troop bay doors and several fully armored warriors armed to the teeth jumped out, they looked very similar to Noble Team. Noble team joined ranks with them and rushed to the starboard side of the ship and aimed their weapons off the edge, blasting away the enemy buccaneers who were preparing to board us. The new Spartan didn't stay long, as they wasted no time in jumping across to the Albion ship and clearing it out room by room, while another Spartan tore down the flag of the Albion ship and raised a UNSC flag, one of an Eagle holding a strange globe in its talons and the letters UNSC printed on a shield which covered part of the eagle. I guessed it was to identify to the other ships that it was friendly now.

And so... here it was... that one of my best friends was dead... and I was surrounded by new ones... in the midst of the biggest, bloodiest and most advanced battle the world of Halkenginia had ever seen... I had a feeling things would not be so easy from here on out...

"_This is UNSC Reclaimer, beginning our decent." _Said Noble One's radio... then the sky grew dark and we all fixated our stares back to the sky as it was blocked out by the largest ship I'd ever seen... it stretched across from horizon to horizon, sporting a massive amount of weaponry and armor... a few lucky shots from Albion ships hit it but all that happened was the local area around the impact of the attack would flare a metallic gold before settling back down like nothing had happened...

A brown haired female marine stared in awe at the ship... "No way... isn't that an Infinity-Class ship?" she asked in mixed Halkenginian and English "I thought there was only one of them being made!"

"Apparently there was a second!" noted Noble Two

As the battle raged on, a lone Pelican dropped from the _Reclaimer_ and hovered over top of my ship... low enough for anyone onboard to simply step down like a stair step. Two men and one... thing... stepped out of the Pelican... two of them were obviously human but the other one, well the other one stood at least two feet taller than the humans in their white naval suits. He had four mandibles that served as his jaws and mouth, each mandible was lined with a set of pointed teeth. The creature had dark skin and wore elaborately patterned but simple suit of grey armor. The armor looked like it served some sort of religious purpose...

Louise gasped... "He's... he's..." she stammered as she looked back at the alien. "He's an Elite!"

"I am Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood, of the United Nations Space Command... " said the aged human in the center, the man's unwavering stare was cold and uncaring, like he'd seen the worst war could throw at a man and came out alive for better or worse. "I figured it would be best to come along on this expedition to advise the diplomatic procedures of my accomplice here, Diplomat Marcus Campbell."

A brown skinned and bald man stepped forth, holding a briefcase in one hand and a small white roll of smoking paper in his other hand with a small yellow bud on the end of it... he held it up to his mouth and inhaled before blowing out a puff of smoke. "Pleased to make your acquaintance ma'am" the expression of the diplomat said that he wished to express himself better, such as a hand shake or something, but since he didn't know our world well he played it safe and preformed a sharp and short bow of his head towards me. "I will be handling any form of negotiations between Tristain and Earth, if you have anything you wish to ask, please don't hesitate to do so." After a while I realized they spoke with perfect Halkenginian... **(A/N: French)**

Finally the grey armored Elite stepped forward. "I am Thel'Vadam..." said the Elite "I am the primary leader of the separatist Covenant forces" the alien's voice was warped a bit due to a translator device by his mouth but I could easily make out his deep voice filled with experience and expressing a calm, optimistic and level headed attitude. "Despite meeting your kind before, I never knew a duplicate of the same race was possible... or at least a race with a near identical genetic structure... I however am more commonly known simply as the Arbiter..."

"Now then, since all introductions have been accounted for..." said the old white man; Lord Hood, as he glanced around the deck of the ship... the battle against Albion's forces coming to an end as UNSC and Separatist forces finished off the Albion Ships. "Where is Noble Six?" he asked "Where is Commander Alexander Chyton, Spartan Scorch-S362?"

I didn't meet the old man's gaze, as my silence, along with the rest of Noble Teams answered his question for him...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**And now the brunt of the UNSC is here to kick some ass, but how long will they stay here? For all you know they could just be passing by onto a more important objective? But hey, it's just a theory!**

**And with that, comes the **_**unofficial **_**end of season two... unofficial because I will be making a bridging episode that features some parts that aren't really included in either season, but it will basically branch over from season two to three, (Don't worry you'll see the theme song for the next season when It changes officially)**

**Also don't expect any updates for the rest of the week and possibly part of the next one... long story, but basically school takes priority since this is the last week and a half of it...**

**But anyways...**

**Since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys :D**

**-Rogue**


	24. Keep calm and blast on

**I know it's been a while, like... a long while... kinda... but hey, Summer vacation started for me about a week and a bit ago and I've been a bit busy... anyways, due to my plans to actually you know... enjoy this summer (Since the last two I didn't have much chance to enjoy, Long story).**

**Anyways, tally ho and I'll get on with the story!**

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"You alright partner?" asked Derflinger from my back.

"Yes Derf, Six is fine... it's totally normal to be bleeding out your nose non-stop..." replied Cortana, dripping with sarcasm.

"You you two just shut up!?" I yelled, pinching my broken nose with one hand and holding my shattered helmet in the other. After the battle I'd found my way to a nearby forest and had been wandering around it for some time... I'd hoped to slink away from the battle and find a place to recover from my injuries... a cannonball to the face is something very few survive after all...

My attention to detail was... next to non-existent at this point... all I cared about was finding a village, town or roadside inn where I could possibly seek some help. The Biofoam and painkillers in my pack were only marginally helping my condition, the Biofoam was probably the only thing keeping me from bleeding out and the painkillers the only thing keeping me from collapsing.

As I wandered about in the strange and unfamiliar woods I found a lightly worn dirt path... maybe I hiking trail of some sort? Either way I decided I'd follow it and hope that it would lead me to some people.

The battle had done a number on me, all had been going just fine until that damned cannon hit me! A blunder was all that way, unlucky... of course... Spartans didn't believe in luck... well... most didn't. My shields had taken such a beating from the cannon and magic that they were stuck at half charge, some portions of my black synthetic workings were torn and my chest piece had a large dent in it... not to mention my helmet was shattered and I was bleeding out of several wounds on my leg, chest and arms... my nose had been broken by the cannon, which was lucky considering it was a direct impact... thank the MJOLNIR for that one...

"Six, the Biofoam on your right thigh is wearing out..." said Cortana.

"Thanks..." I replied and retrieved a half empty canister of the foam and touched up the wound area. Biofoam hurt like a bitch when you first used the stuff on an open wound but it was effective at clotting the larger injuries.

I found my mind wandering as I wandered myself... I thought about Louise, Siesta, Kirche, Tabitha, Anies, Julio, Guiche... and Henrietta... they all probably thought I was, for good reason, dead. I had hoped to prove them wrong by recovering and making it back to Tristain after the battle... sadly this was taking longer than expected and I was running out of medical supplies quickly...

Blood dripped from my now shaggy and messy brown hair, which I hadn't cut since I had gotten to Halkenginia... I'd gotten here with a buzz cut at first, now, my hair made me look like some hoodlum punk what with my bangs hanging down in front of my face... I planned to get it cut once I got back...

I wondered how the others were faring right about now...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Henrietta's POV**

Lord Terrance Hood and the Arbiter stood in front of my throne, the one of which I was currently sitting on for that matter, waiting for them to speak. Louise and a few of her friends stood off to the side while the newcomers and I spoke. There were also three UNSC Marines in the back left corner of the sun lit throne room and two Elites in the back right corner, one blue, one red.

"Madam?" Asked Lord Hood "You seem, distraught..." he noted.

"I've noticed it too..." added The Arbiter "I think it has something to do with the battle several hours ago."

"What battle?" sneered Lord Hood to The Arbiter "All we did was come in and blast a few wooden flying ships to kingdom come! Literally!"

"I meant the battle they fought..." pointed out Arbiter. "The Tristainians must have lost many troops..."

The Admiral sighed "Right, Noble Six was one of the losses..." he looked at me, while I idly peered out one of the high windows in the throne room... "Misses Tristain" said Lord Hood, addressing me informally "Were you close friends with Spartan-362?"

I snapped back to life at his question "No!" I exclaimed "Well... ok yeah he was a friend to me..." I admitted.

"Soldiers die on the battle field, whether they die for the ones they care about of to protect their homes or those of others, they die with purpose! It's the price to pay for fighting such wars." He pointed a finger at me "I don't believe in dying for the pure sake of honor, like some of you seem to be interested in... dying for titles and fame, that's not heroic, that's retarded! Dying heroically is to die for what you care about! Your home, your friends, your family!"

"I understand where you are coming from" I said... Alexander had... greatly influenced me while he was here... I'll admit... "And I respect that..." I added. "But you stick to your traditions, let us stick to ours."

The Admiral scoffed while The Arbiter nodded respectfully.

"Now then, we've come to lend assistance..." said The Arbiter. "On our way into the atmosphere we detected a Loyalist Suppercarrier orbiting the planet, or your world simply put. Them, along with vast amounts of Forerunner knowledge stored on your world has grabbed our attention. UNSC and the Separatist Alliance are willing to protect you from the onslaught of Zealotous Covenant Loyalists in their search to acquire more Forerunner artifacts."

"What are your terms?" I asked

"Not much" replied Lord Hood "Simply a place to set up shop. Landing zone, Firebase, Supply pads, etc, etc... We will also need a place to acquire more resources should we not be able to wait for reinforcements and supplies from Earth."

My steward approached me, bowing before me, holding out a scroll of paper. I took it from him and read down the list. "I have a few estates that would serve as a perfect place for your base... but I'll have to speak to my court about this first... see how the people feel about this... for now I can grant you access to the current base at our magic academy." I said

"Magic..." sighed Hood "I still can't believe it..."

"SIR! SIR!" called a Marine who came barreling into the throne room, my guards moved to stop him but I waved them off. The marine ran up to Lord Hood, panting.

"What is it boy? Speak up!" ordered the Admiral.

The marine stood up straight and saluted "Sir, Albion has surrendered and we've taken the capital! Still no sign of Noble Six either... except... this..." the marine reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sliver necklace...

Then one of the Noble Team Spartans, who stood opposite of Louise and her friends seemed to recognize the necklace. The Spartan was big, bulky and wore orange worn armor.

"Sir, those are Six's dogtags!" he said.

Lord Hood took the blood stained tag, he sighed deeply as he closed his hand around them. "Another one gone..."

"Should I... put him down as KIA? Sir?" asked the Lieutenant Marine.

"No! Keep him down as MIA, we'll find him... alive or otherwise..."

I glanced over at Louise, who seemed to know more then she let on... something told me, that in her heart, she knew he was dead.

"Sirs." I said and stood from my throne. "I must go and attend to my court, if you will excuse me."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

In my courtroom, I sat at the head of a long table... nobles from each estate within Tristain circled the table in harsh debate. At the far end of the table representatives from Romalia and Germania sat, fingers laced waiting for my decision.

"We can't just let these... heretics and heathens into our country! To do so would destabilise our very way of life!" shouted the noble from the De Gaul estate **(A/N: Some estate names are made up)**.

"News has reached the ears of the people of my estate and they wish to allow this... UNSC into our territory. They believe that their presence will not only protect us, but open new opportunities." Said the noble from the Marquois Estate.

"So your saying we should... succumb to plebeian ways and just... mooch off the UNSC while they trample our systems!?"

"No! Not at all! We'd earn our keep and vise-versa! Just think, with the power of the UNSC and our magic, we could become unstoppable!"

The representatives from Germania and Romalia looked uneasily at me... as did I for that matter...

"People! Settle down! Why can't... we make a compromise..." I laced my fingers together as a leaned on the table in front of me... I thought popped up in my head, making me smirk... "And I think I have an idea..." I paused, before looking up again from my thoughts. "Why don't we let the people decide?"

There were mixed mutterings from my court... not all sounded good or well intended but I was already set in my idea... I pointed to one of my guards and waved him over. I drew out a scroll from a pile next to my chair, placing it onto the tabletop and pulling out a feather pen from an ink well next to me. I neatly scribbled down my orders, before handing it to my guard.

"Bring this downstairs and have copies made, I want a dozen copies per estate in Tristain." I ordered

"Yes your highness..." replied my guard...

"Court dismissed." I said and everyone slowly filed out of the room... leaving my by myself, with one guard... I stepped into the far corner of the room, away from his ears...

If this... document... got enough likings... then my time as queen was limited...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

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**Scorch's POV**

"Eyes on the prize Six..." I muttered to myself "Just keep going, you'll find help eventually..."

By now I'd run out of painkillers... I'd consumed so much it was a miracle I wasn't on an overdose yet. The Biofoam was running low, however the bleeding had slowed down, still I didn't trust it to not start up again. Oh and what's more, this dirt path I was on didn't seem to end... I had a hunch I'd been following it deeper into the woods...

I sighed and was about to turn around when I heard a sound... a panicked sound...

"Ahh!" a high pitched scream sounded from the forest... followed by a rugged and hideous laugh...

Despite my injuries I was able to speed up to a brisk jog as I headed towards the sound... judging from said sounds, I readied myself for a coming conflict, drawing my magnum only, as my other arm was too weak to properly wield my rifle.

As I moved closer, I estimated that the conflict was from beyond the next set of trees... I crept behind a closer one and peeked around.

A young girl had been thrown to the ground, while five menacing burley men stood around her with crude knives and maces. Most of them were shirtless and covered with scars, one of them even wore an eye patch and red bandana over his silver-blonde hair. They were all at least between 21-30 years of age.

"Well, well, well..." said the bandana wearing one. "Didn't yer mother ever tell ya not to stray into the woods? Things could get... scary in there... hahahaa!" he snarled.

I couldn't make out the girl's features as she had a brown cloak and hood over her head... but her chest... well... it stood out like... well... erm... a very... large... chest... I guess... for lack of a better term...

I mean the size of them wasn't even funny! She had to be at least a size and a half larger than Kirche... which was already substantially large...

"Well, at least we get a chance to try these out..." said one of the other bandits, who reached into a wagon they had with them and pulled out a blue horseshoe... my blood ran cold...

'Where the hell'd they get a Plasma pistol!?' my mind freaked out. Then just as if to answer my question...

"We stole these from the retreating Albion Army... never knew that Albion created magically imbued weapons..."

Novices... I thought... Magic had nothing to do with it... try high powered energy based plasma projection... how's that for thought?

"Well... boss...?" asked another bandit.

"what?" replied the boss, the one with the bandana and eyepatch.

"Well, I was thinking..."

"Well, that's a first..."

"Shut it... anyways I was thinking why not have some fun with the girl before we take our leave."

The leader chuckled "You're a sick man Edward..." there was a brief pause "Have at her, we'll be waiting."

I saw the bandit start to unbuckled his pants while the girl was pressed back into a tree... "No! Go away!" she wailed...

Now, I'm a soldier, I have priorities... but letting innocent people get raped and murdered was a pet peeve... well... actually, I simply hated people who did that... along with mass genocide and planetary apocalypseing, so to speak...

*Bang*

"AH!" the girl screamed as brain matter flew out the bandit's forehead.

The other bandits whirled around at the sound and looked back at me... having just made my presence known... I dropped my helmet which was still in my hand and raised my magnum, shooting one more bandit in the head before they began to react.

The three remaining bandits scattered and tried to surround me... little good it would do them... so long as I found the one wielding the plasma pistol before he got me..."AAARGH!" I heard behind me...

*clink*

Came the light ping of a dagger impacting my armor... I slowly turned around to face the bandit who looked at me in horror... holding a 180 degree bent dagger in one hand... I grabbed him by the throat physically and crushed his windpipe with one hand. Dropping the dead body at my feet before looking for the last two.

I heard a buzzing sound and managed to swerve out of the way of an overcharged plasma pistol shot... how they knew how to use these was beyond me and I had a feeling that either it was pure luck... or there was someone else's hand behind it...

I turned towards where the shot came from and found another bandit who was shaking his hands, trying to cool them off after the plasma pistol had overheated... he then noticed that I'd spotted him... I held my hand out and brought him towards me since I was too weak to charge him. I sparked up my energy sword and just as I was about to impale him on it he threw the pistol over my head... he still ended up being impaled... but as I pushed his body off my sword I felt a heat growing on my back... I fell forward after a loud ping and shockwave of my shields depleting... I turned around and just as I was about to wip out my magnum and return fire, a shining blue sword ran me through... I then noticed that my energy sword had been knocked out of my hand... my head fell back and I wanted to just die so badly...

The bandit withdrew the sword...

"Now then, to finish what Eddy started..." he started to walk back towards the girl... and with my last bit of strength muttered.

"Not in your life..."

"huh?" the bandit turned around just in time for him to witness my superb display of marksmanship as I plugged him full of lead, delivering three rounds to the torso and one to the head.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

"Gandalfr ... wake up Gandalfr..." came a sweet voice...

"Huh?" I mumbled as I felt a spoonful of some sort of sweet nectar get stuck in my mouth. My eyes snapped open and I sat bold upright, knocking the spoon out of my caretaker's hand... startling her in the process...

I looked over and noticed a blonde haired girl... likely the same one I had saved in the forest...

"Um... hi... sorry about that..." I said. I looked over myself... I felt brand new... no injuries whatsoever! I wore a simple white cotton shirt and grey linen pants... my armor was over by the entrance to the building... which was a small hut as far as I could tell, with only one room.

"How long was I out?" I asked

The girl didn't reply, but pulled a large hat over her head, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Hey what's wrong?" I asked, really not caring about her huge chest size at the moment... "I'm not going to hurt someone who helped me recover."

"Y-you killed them..." she said timidly

"Well, of course I did... they were going to do the same to you, and worse! I only kill when necessary!" I sighed "And if you pardon me asking. What with the hat? It's a little warm to be wearing such a cumbrous thing isn't it?"

"W-well... I have my reasons..."

"What? Do you have bad hair? It can't be that bad..." I replied "Well... either way, might I know your name?"

The girl nodded "Tiffania, Tiffania Westwood..."

"Nice to meet you Tiffania, I'm Alexander Chyton. But you can just call me Alex..."

"Thank you Alex... for saving me the other day."

I turned and stood up, stretching my muscles and taking inventory of my equipment "No problem, it's what I do."

My armor had somehow been repaired... the helmet looked as though it had just been manufactured and the armor had been resealed...

"H-how did you fix this stuff?" I asked baffled

"I used this" said Tiffania who held up a small disc... she pressed a button in the center and it opened up to form a small cylinder... large enough to fit my helmet in, or individual pieces of my armor. "My great great grandmother passed it down to me... through her mother and onwards... it can fix anything if you put it in here! It's how I've managed to keep my stuff from falling apart!"

I took a closer look at the object and noticed faint orange lights within the cylinder... "Is this Forerunner?" I asked

"Who?" said Tiffania who cocked her head slightly... if her breasts weren't so big she'd seem completely innocent and 100% adorable... still cute as fuck though... her face anyways... ok, ok... and yeah, she had a nice body... big deal...

"Nothing... just a hunch..." I replied

"Well, thanks again... you should go, back to the place you belong..."

I groaned "Why is it that the pretty ones never want me around" I joked

I think Tiffania took this a bit more seriously as intended as she blushed and shied away with her arms behind her back.

"Ok seriously though... that hat... is making me really suspicious... I swear I died back there." I said, finally cluing in... "What's under that hat that can bring back the dead...?"

Tiffania was caught off guard at the sudden change of mood...

"I-it's nothing!"

"You stuttered... either that means I'm right and there is something under there or... well... or you just slipped up the ol' tongue... but I'm going with my opinion!" I countered

"No it's..."

"Oh c'mon... I mean you saved my life, it's not like whatever is under there is going to affect my view of you!"

"Promise?" she asked

"I swear!" I held up my hand in an oath.

Tiffania reluctantly removed her hat... and... If I thought she couldn't look more attractive... well... I was proven wrong...

Two knife shaped ears sprung up from the sides of her head, poking above it... I'd only heard about these creatures in old folk lore... so... to think that they were real just blew my mind!

"That's fuckin' awesome!" I exclaimed

"Huh?"

"Your an elf right?" I asked enthusiastically

Tiffania nodded meekly. "Well... technically only half..." she looked back up at me and raised an eyebrow... "What is it?" she asked

I shook my head, realizing I'd been staring at her ears... "nothing" which was a lie... for some reason as soon as I'd learned that she was an elf I found myself strangely attracted to her...

"Anyways, when you go, please don't tell anyone what I am..." she pleaded

"No worries... I'll make something up!" I smiled before putting my helmet on... after I'd gotten into my armor which was able to be equipped due to the now fully operational Tacpad on my arm and Cortana's help.

"Hey, I find a lot of weird stuff in the woods... and I found this while I was exploring one day..." Tiffania held up a thin long white and orange board with vents on both ends... "I don't know what this is but I was thinking you could make use of it."

"Thank you Tiffania" I said and took the board... and as soon as I touched it the dim lines lit up orange. I nearly dropped it... but Cortana seemed to know what this was.

"Six! This is a forerunner hover board. They used it to move heavy objects around... but... with a little adjustment..." I heard a faint beeping from the board. "There! I've changed the parameters within the jet system to allow higher mobility... you can use it like a sort of... skateboard now if you want!"

"Bad. Ass." I said and put it on the ground and it hovered in place. "Thanks for everything Tiffania! And don't worry! I'll be sure to do my best to keep your identity a secret!"

Tiffania waved her hand goodbye and I stepped on the board and it smoothing sailed forward... as I whisked through the woods I couldn't help but jeer "Wooo-hoooo! Forerunner crap is awesome!"

The fact that this board could carry a ton Spartan at this high of speed and manoeuvrability was astounding. I could seriously turn on a dime with this thing! And with the use of the board I was able to make it to the nearest port town in a mere twenty minutes... I got off the board as I cruised into town, putting it on my back... I walked up the ramp to the docks which had a ship bound for Tristain on waiting... I walked onto the ship

"Excuse me sir..." said one of the sailors "But I didn't see you pay for your fare."

I glared at him from behind my helmet... "I just came back from the dead after a battle with Albion's army... I don't have any fucking money! Is that a problem or you still wanna argue?"

"Well sir, I'm afraid- gak!" the sound of air escaping through an airlock was heard as the sailor clawed at his neck, gasping for air...

"I. Said. That. Won't. Be. A. Problem... Right?"

"Gak, no! Noo! Not... not a proooblem aaat all!"

I released him and he fell to his knees breathing deeply. "Good, glad we got that settled..." I said

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Guiche's POV**

"I don't like the silence..." said Montmorency as I stood next to her while she sat daintily on the steps of one of the school's side doors... Kirche and Tabitha weren't far away only standing maybe several meters to our right, against a wall.

"I didn't think Alexander would actually have the guts to die in place of Louise... I... I can respect him for that at the very least... but..." I trailed off

"It's not the same without him is it?"

I sighed "No its not... it's too quiet... nothing ever happens... it seems like the whole academy is dead to me now..."

"Hard to believe it's almost been three days already..."

I solemnly nodded "and from what I can tell, Louise has still had herself locked up in her quarters bawling her eyes out... I... I can understand that and all, she was like a sister to him, but..." I sighed as I trailed off again, unable to finish my thought...

I dug around in my pocket and felt a short hard cylinder... I pulled it out and looked over the red and golden shotgun shell... "He taught me how to use his world's weapons... I don't think I would have survived the war without his teachings..."

Montmorency chuckled "He gave me my nickname... Monmon"

I heard Kirche and Tabitha walk over... "He was one of the few to capture my heart." Said Kirche and I wanted to roll my eyes...

"He saved Sylphid" said Tabitha in her usual bland voice.

Then we heard the light footsteps and we all looked over at one of the School's maid who had been listening into our conversation. "He was my friend..." she said...

We all looked at our feet... refusing to look up. "In a way" I said "He meant something to all of us... shame he's gone now..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Anies POV**

We all stood up in the Headmaster's office...

Osmond gently petted his mouse familiar "I didn't really expect Alexander to..." he trailed off

"Well, thanks to him" I said "We were all saved..."

"I'm so sorry" sobbed Her Highness, who stood looking out a window across the vast field outside the academy walls. "It's all my fault." She cried "I wanted to stay, if only we'd left sooner... rushed the evacuation, had more time!"

"You majesty, its not your fault." I said "We must not let his sacrifice be in vain, and we most defiantly won't forget him... we all have something to remember him by!"

"A friend." Said Her Majesty

"An amazing student" Said Osmond

"A brilliant rival." Said Julio

"A great teacher..." I said, glancing down at the SOCOM M6G magnum at my side and my black ODST helmet in my hand.

"He'll be remembered..." we all said.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Cattleya's POV**

I sat next to my little sister on her bed as she held her wilted *Insert long and ridiculous name here* flower.

"Alex... Alex... why did you..." she sobbed... then Eleanor whipped the curtains open, addressing Louise.

"When are you going to stop crying Crybaby Louise? It's been nearly three days now! It's because you didn't heed Father's advice and insisted on going to the battlefield that your familiar has died!"

"Eleanor!" I exclaimed

"It's all my fault..." continued Louise "It's all my fault that Alex has..."

"Calm down!" exclaimed Eleanor "It's only the death of a familiar." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Louise!" I yelped as Louise flung herself at Eleanor.

"What do you mean by "just a familiar"!? she screamed "He's special to me! Alexander is really fucking important to me!"

"L-Louise..." said Eleanor... who for the first time I can remember backed off...

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Louise yelled throwing in the curses that she had learned from Alex. "You don't fucking care about me... just leave me alone damnit!"

"Eleanor... we should go" I said and took my sister by the shoulder and lead her out...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Louise's POV**

"Was... was it a mistake to go to the battlefield in the first place? To die just for me in the end... who cares so much about her own reputation that she can't see the bigger picture..." tears fell from my eyes and soaked my sleeves and dripped down my face. "I can finally say that I love you... and accept you as you wanted me to... I love you more than you love me, but... to die for me... is that really what a brother would do? Please... don't truly be dead..." I clentched my eyes shut and heard a faint beeping in my ear... at first I thought it was just my head pounding from all the crying but as I calmed down and listened I noticed it was coming from my side table... I ran over to it and noticed the uplink that Alex had given me was active... it was... well... transmitting... some kind of signal... I opened it up and though I couldn't see anything but a cracked screen there was one green word in the upper corner of the screen... _Active... _previously it had read _KIA_ in red... so I took this as a sign...

I picked up the uplink device and charged outside, ignoring the confused looks of my sisters who were walking away from my room... I barreled down the stairs and as I reached the gate of the academy I heard something coming from the UNSC base next to the school.

"Sir! Your alive! I can't fuckin' believe it!" said the voice of Cpl. Woods

I looked over towards the base and saw; between a foot to two feet taller then me, clad in black and golden high tech armor and carrying many a weapons on his back... my familiar...

He removed his helmet and waved at me.

"ALEX!" I screamed and hugged him, despite the hardness of his armor and the headache I was going to have from hitting him so hard. "Alex, you're really back! You really are right!? you're not a ghost!?"

He'd absorbed my tackle and was standing before he hugging me back, he looked down at me. "Hey, been a while huh? You didn't think I'd go down that easy..." he smiled "just a... touch to the head... it was nothing!" he boasted and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot! I thought you had died you idiot!"

"Well, I'm back..." he said

"But how?"

"Well, uh..." he paused for a sec, I could see the gears in his head turning "That's cuz I was saved by an um... erm... a fairy!" he exclaimed "Yes... that's it... a fairy..."

My mood turned sour "A fairy?" I growled

"Yeah, looked after me for a while... till I got my strength back at least... then she sent me off as soon as I was better... but... geez... she was kinda... different if you know what I mean... I mean I don't think its even natural to have breast that big- ooop! Oh shit... why did I say that...?" he cursed...

I pushed back from him, gripping my wand... "Well isn't that just perfect huh? That just how it is eh? A... B-b-big breasted fairy..."

"L-Louise... it was an exaggeration..." he said but I wasn't listening

"Y-you love big breasts right? You like 'em very much right!?"

"W-wait, Lousie! IDon'tThinkThat'sAVeryGoodIdea!"

"Then why don't you just go an live with that fucking fairy!?" I pointed my wand at him.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Henrietta's POV**

We were all still standing quietly in the office of Headmaster Osmond when a loud sound sent the good Headmaster's face into his desk and his mouse familiar off his shoulder...

*KA-PEW!*

"What the heck was that!?" he exclaimed

"That noise can only mean one thing!" said Julio with a grin plastered on his face.

"No fucking way..." said a giddy Anies who looked like she was about to burst into dance.

"Alexander's back!" I cheered and nearly cried for joy as we watched him get chased around the school grounds all the while Louise repeatedly trying to explodinate him.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Scorch's POV**

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I wailed, dodging an explosion with each _shit_.

"I still haven't dealt with the matter regarding the sleeping potion you made me drink!" Louise yelled as I ran from her while she tried to explodinate me.

I ran past Guiche, Tabitha, Monmon and Kirche as I was chased... "Hi guys! Gotta go!" I said

"Alex!" exclaimed Guiche

"You're back!" added Monmon.

"Darling your still alive!" jeered Kirche

"He's strong..." commented Tabitha, of which I almost didn't hear for obvious reasons... she being so fuckin' quiet and Louise exploding the crap outta everything within a one and a half meter radius of me.

"So partner" said Derf from my back. "I think that it woulda been easier-" he was cut off by Cortana

"-To deal with an actual army of seven million..." she finished

"I'm inclined to agree with you guys!" I panted

I passed a maid carrying a tub of laundry with her. "Alexander!?" she exclaimed.

I backed up, having temporarily lost Louise... "Siesta! Hey!" I said "I really gotta go though!"

"Alexander! I knew you were still alive! I never doubted it!"

Then I heard a snap from my immediate left... "Alllleeeexxx..." the rabid Louise growled

"You have encountered a Wild Louise!" Said Cortana "Ambush! Louise get's first attack!"

"SHUT UP CORTANA!" I yelled and kept on running.

"You perverted fucking dog!" she screamed

"FUCK OFF LOUISE!" I ran up to her room and grabbed something out of her dresser and hid at her door... I was happy that I had left it here...

3... 2... 1...

Louise ran around the corner and became a bright blueish purple star of electricity as I jabbed her in the gut with my stun baton and she collapsed to the floor... writhing in pain and unable to get up...

"Now then if you'll excuse me... I have some people to greet properly, you can't have me just to yourself you know..." I stated before briskly stepping over her and closing the door... in a way... it was good to be back...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

* * *

**Really sorry it took me so long to write this but I'd been having writers block and... hopefully we all know how much of a bitch it can be... whether you're waiting for a new chapter to come out or the one writing the new chapter... either way it's annoying... add that to the fact I've got my driver's ed coming up and I'm getting a job soon... so... yeah... I'm not gonna have much time till the school year gets back in... Even so I'll still try to get chapters out, but don't expect many over the summer... hope this chapter somewhat made up for it. **

**Either way I'll end this chapter with my usual outro.**

**I took the time to write this out, so why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?**

**Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.**

**WTYL guys :D**


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